A new cell line, NCEB-1, was established by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a patient with centroblastic-centrocytic diffuse lymphoma expressing IgM lambda. The transformed cells were lymphoblastoid, with many cells showing a plasmacytoid morphology. The NCEB-1 cells had cytoplasmic Ig (CyIg), with loss of the surface Ig (SIg) expression. Cytogenetic analysis of the cell line demonstrated two clones with variations: a hypodiploid clone, with a complex karyotype including a t(11;14)(q13;q32) similar to the original tumor cells, and a near tetraploid clone with the same markers. Southern blot analysis of DNA from the patient's neoplastic cells and NCEB-1 demonstrated identical Ig heavy chain gene rearrangement, confirming the origin of the cell line. The cell line was not tumorigenic when tested in an in vitro assay using immunosuppressed mice. NCEB-1 has been in continuous culture for 9 months and will be valuable for the in vivo study of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and EBV transformation.