Background: Prognosis for patients with gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is poor and the standard treatment for GBC has not yet been established.
Materials and methods: We established the human GBC cell line TYGBK-1, from a patient with papillary, tubular adenocarcinoma.
Results: The doubling time was 48 hours. This cell line has a missense mutation of p53 and no mutation of the K-RAS gene. This cell line was transplantable to nude mice. We characterized the sensitivity of TYGBK-1 to gemcitabine. We also examined the association of two gemcitabine-related genes (deoxycytidine kinase, dCK, and Hu antigen R, HuR). Among four GBC cell lines (TYGBK-1, NOZ, G-415, TGBC2TKB), TYGBK-1 and NOZ exhibited sensitivity to gemcitabine. Furthermore, these cells expressed both dCK and HuR mRNA, rather than gemcitabine-resistant cells.
Conclusion: The newly established GBC cell line TYGBK-1, may represent an effective tool for development of chemotherapeutic treatment for GBC.