Neoplastic transformation in cell cultures: in-vitro/in-vivo correlations.

The behaviour of the C3H 10T1/2 C18 (10T1/2) cell line is reviewed in the context of its ability to reflect accurately events known to occur during carcinogenesis in vivo. It is concluded that, despite their embryonic fibroblastic origin and their infinite life-span in culture, 10T1/2 cells are capable of a wide range of responses to carcinogens and modulators of carcinogenesis that correspond closely to those observed in vivo, for the most part in epithelial tissues. For this and other reasons the 10T1/2 cell line has been widely employed in cancer research.