# Cell line

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/cell-line/  
OnCo record `cell-line` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A population of cells, usually taken from a tumour decades ago, that keeps dividing indefinitely in the laboratory. The workhorse of cancer research: cheap, fast and infinitely reproducible, but a distant cousin of a real tumour.

## Summary

HeLa, from Henrietta Lacks's cervical cancer in 1951, was the first, and around a thousand cancer cell lines are now in common use, each with its genome, drug sensitivities and gene dependencies catalogued in resources such as the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia and DepMap. They are how targets are validated, how CRISPR screens find vulnerabilities, and how drugs are first tested, and they are also the factories that produce therapeutic antibodies and the source material of some off-the-shelf cell therapies. Decades in plastic select for fast growth and remove the tumour's three-dimensional structure, blood supply and immune environment, which is why organoids and patient-derived models were developed.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: cell lines; cell-line; cell-lines; cultured cells; cell culture; cell cultures; immortalised; immortalized; HeLa; cancer cell lines; cancer cell line

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortalised_cell_line
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortalised_cell_line

## Connected records

- terms: [In vitro and in vivo](https://onco.cc/terms/in-vitro-in-vivo/), [Model organism](https://onco.cc/terms/model-organism/), [Monoclonal](https://onco.cc/terms/monoclonal/), [Organoid](https://onco.cc/terms/organoid/), [Preclinical](https://onco.cc/terms/preclinical/)
- technologies: [CRISPR functional genomics](https://onco.cc/technologies/crispr-screens/), [Functional (ex vivo) drug testing](https://onco.cc/technologies/functional-drug-testing/), [Patient-derived organoids](https://onco.cc/technologies/organoids/), [scFoundation (BioMap)](https://onco.cc/technologies/scfoundation/)
- drugs: [Ivermectin](https://onco.cc/drugs/ivermectin/)
- key papers: [Ivermectin and gynecologic cancer: what's the data?](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-mujumdar-ivermectin-gynaecological-cancer-2025/)
- journals: [Neoplasia](https://onco.cc/journals/neoplasia/)

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