Establishment and characterization of NCC-UPS3-C1: a novel patient-derived cell line of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma

Establishment and characterization of NCC-PS1-C1: a novel cell line of pleomorphic sarcoma from a patient after neoadjuvant radiotherapy

Pleomorphic sarcoma (PS) is a heterogeneous group of malignant mesenchymal tumors without a specific histological lineage of differentiation. PS is genetically characterized by genetic instability and diversity and histologically characterized by morphological pleomorphism. PS is one of the most common soft tissue sarcomas. The only curative treatment for PS is complete surgical resection, in which neoadjuvant radiotherapy is frequently combined. PS demonstrates both local recurrence and metastasis after surgical treatment, and effective systemic chemotherapy has not yet been established. Patient-derived cancer cell lines are critical tools for basic and preclinical studies in the development of chemotherapy. However, only six PS cell lines are available from the public cell bank, and none of them are derived from PS after neoadjuvant radiotherapy, despite the fact that radiotherapy causes changes in the posttreatment cancer genome. Here, we reported a novel cell line of PS from a primary tumor specimen resected after neoadjuvant radiotherapy and named it NCC-PS1-C1. NCC-PS1-C1 cells showed a variety of copy number alterations and pathological mutations in TP53. NCC-PS1-C1 cells demonstrated constant proliferation, spheroid formation, and invasion capability in vitro. The screening of antitumor agents in NCC-PS1-C1 cells showed that bortezomib and romidepsin were effective against PS. In conclusion, we report a novel PS cell line from a primary tumor resected after neoadjuvant radiotherapy. We believe that NCC-PS1-C1 will be a useful tool for the development of novel chemotherapies for PS, especially for recurrent cases after neoadjuvant radiotherapy.

Establishment and characterization of NCC-UPS4-C1: a novel cell line of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma from a patient with Li-Fraumeni syndrome

Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is a cancer predisposition syndrome caused by a germline mutation of the TP53. The lifetime risk of cancer in individuals with LFS is ≥ 70% for men and ≥ 90% for women. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) is one of the core cancers associated with LFS. UPS is a subtype of undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma that shows no identifiable line of differentiation. The standard curative treatment for UPS is complete surgical resection. However, local recurrence and distant metastasis to the lung can usually be found after resection of the UPS. Therefore, a novel treatment strategy for patients with UPS is required. Although well characterized, patient-derived tumor cell lines facilitate the high-throughput screening of a large number of drugs, and no sarcoma cell lines derived from a patient with LFS have been registered in public cell banks. Thus, this study aimed to establish a novel, well-characterized UPS cell line from a patient with LFS. From surgically resected UPS tumor tissues, we established the first UPS cell line from a patient with LFS and named it NCC-UPS4-C1. NCC-UPS4-C1 harbored copy number alterations and had the TP53 tumor suppressor gene mutation. The cells exhibited constant cell growth and invasive ability. This well-characterized NCC-UPS4-C1 cell line was then utilized for high-throughput screening of 214 anti-cancer drugs, and two effective drugs were identified. One of the two drugs, romidepsin, was commonly effective for the NCC-UPS1-C1, NCC-UPS2-C1, and NCC-UPS3-C1 cell lines that we previously reported; a potential drug for the treatment of UPS was suggested using well-characterized UPS cell lines. These data indicate that NCC-UPS4-C1, which is the first sarcoma cell line established from a patient with LFS, enables researchers to conduct vigorous preclinical research on UPS.