The availability of continuous human leukemia cell lines as a rich resource of abundant, accessible, and manipulable living cells has contributed significantly to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of hematopoietic tumors (1 ). The first malignant hematopoietic cell lines, i.e., Burkitt’s lymphoma-derived lines, were established in 1963 (2 ). Since then, large numbers of cell lines have been described, although not all of them have been characterized in full detail (3 ). The major advantages and common characteristics of leukemia cell lines are listed in Table 1 . The spectrum of malignant hematopoietic cell lines is not restricted to various types of leukemia but also includes the lymphomas and myelomas. The following refers also to lymphoma-and myeloma-derived cell lines unless indicated otherwise. Table 1Advantages and Characteristics of Leukemia Cell Lines
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Unlimited supply of cell material. |
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Worldwide availability of identical cell material. |
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Indefinite storability in liquid nitrogen and recoverability. |
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Monoclonal origin. |
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Differentiation arrest at a discrete maturation stage |
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Sustained proliferation in culture |
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Stability of most features in long-term culture |
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Specific genetic alterations |
