Establishment and characterization of a receptor-negative, hormone-nonresponsive breast cancer cell line from an Iraqi patient

A new breast cancer cell line (AMJ13) has been established from an Iraqi breast cancer patient. It is considered unique because it is the first for an Iraqi population, and is expected to be a useful tool in breast cancer research. The AMJ13 cell line was established from the primary tumor of a 70-year-old Iraqi woman with a histological diagnosis of infiltrating ductal carcinoma. The cells were morphologically characterized by light and scanning electron microscopy, and found to be elongated multipolar epithelial-like cells with a population doubling time of 22 hours. The anchorage-independent growth ability test showed that the cells were able to grow in semisolid agarose, confirming their transformed nature. Cytogenetic study of these cells showed chromosomal aberrations with many structural and numerical abnormalities, producing chromosomes of unknown origin called marker chromosomes. Immunocytochemistry showed that the estrogen receptor and the progesterone receptor were not expressed, and a weak positive result was found for HER2/neu gene expression. AMJ13 cells were positive for BRCA1 and BRCA2, as well as for vimentin. This cell line should be useful when testing new therapies for breast cancer in the Middle East.