Cell lines derived from human ovarian carcinomas: growth stimulation by gonadotropic and steroid hormones.

Carcinoma cell lines established from 5 patients with advanced tumors of ovarian location were characterized by karyotypes and growth properties in serum-free medium. In early passages of the cultivation, the growth of cell lines derived from tumors of fairly differentiated histology was stimulated by human follicle-stimulating hormone or human chorionic gonadotropin-human luteinizing hormone. Cells obtained from poorly differentiated carcinomas were unresponsive to gonadotropins. The proliferation of cell lines derived from a malignant clear cell carcinoma and from the ovarian metastasis of an advanced mammary carcinoma was enhanced by cortisol. The results imply that hormonal factors in concentrations physiologically occurring in human serum may support the in vivo growth of ovarian tumors.