Isolation of two cell lines from a human malignant glioma specimen differing in sensitivity to radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs.

Two aneuploid cell lines which differ in their inherent sensitivity to ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic agents were established concurrently from a single tumor specimen obtained from a patient with glioblastoma. M059J cells are approximately 30-fold more sensitive to radiation than are M059K cells (surviving fractions at 2 Gy were 0.02 and 0.64, respectively). This relative difference in radiation sensitivity has remained a stable feature of the cell lines during 2 years in continuous culture. In addition, cells of the M059J line are more sensitive than those of the M059K line to the cytotoxic effects of bleomycin, N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitrosourea, and nitrogen mustard. These cell lines may prove to provide a useful model system for evaluating the cellular and molecular processes which confer resistance or sensitivity in cancer treatment.