The SUM-225 cell line was derived from cells isolated from a chest wall nodule that occurred in a woman who had a previous mastectomy for extensive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). In 1990 the patient, a 56 year old woman, had a modified radical mastectomy after a diagnosis of DCIS. The mastectomy specimen revealed high grade DCIS with comedo necrosis with some areas displaying a micropapilary pattern. No invasive carcinoma was detected in the specimen and lymph nodes were negative. In September of 1996, the patient recurred with chest wall nodules on the mastectomy site. The lab procurred one of those nodules and isolated cells for culture. The pathology report of the chest wall nodules indicated a metastatic carcinoma with both adeno and squamous features, and the specimen was negative for estrogen and progesterone receptors. It is noteworthy that investigators have reported that SUM-225 cells form tumors when transplanted into immunodeficient mice and the histologic pattern of these tumors is that of high grade DCIS with comedo necrosis. In addition, SUM-225 cells have an amplification and overexpression of HER2 and this oncogene is often associated with high grade DCIS. Thus, SUM-225 is a good model for a high grade DCIS that progressed to an invasive stage within six years of the original surgery.
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