Common HCC Cell Lines Represent Only a Subgroup of Human HCC Cases

Over the past decades multiple cell lines from human hepatocellular cancer (HCC) have been generated to model HCC. However, it is not known how well these cell lines represent in vitro human HCC in vivo. For HCC, it has recently been shown by gene expression analysis that it separates at least into two genetically distinct subsets with a different course of the disease. In order to better understand these genetically defined differences, we were interested if 19 most frequently used HCC cell lines would represent these HCC subgroups. We analyzed a data of 139 genome wide microarray data from HCC samples and 19 H…