On 2015 Feb 13, Amanda Capes-Davis commented:

The two cell lines used here are both HeLa. KB is not an oral cancer cell line. It was cross-contaminated by HeLa - most likely during establishment of the cell line in 1955 - and no authentic stocks are known.

A number of studies have used KB for testing of therapeutic activity and concluded that an effect will be relevant for oral cancer. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Cell lines can be easily tested for cross-contamination and an increasing number of journals require authentication testing before publication. In my view, authentication testing would address the widespread use of KB as a model for oral cancer.

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is the current consensus for authentication testing. Online databases can be used to compare a laboratory's result to HeLa and other commonly occurring contaminants.

For more information on STR profiling see: http://iclac.org/resources/human-cell-line-authentication/.

For a list of known cross-contaminated cell lines see: http://iclac.org/databases/cross-contaminations/.

On 2015 Feb 13, Amanda Capes-Davis commented:

The two cell lines used here are both HeLa. KB is not an oral cancer cell line. It was cross-contaminated by HeLa - most likely during establishment of the cell line in 1955 - and no authentic stocks are known.

A number of studies have used KB for testing of therapeutic activity and concluded that an effect will be relevant for oral cancer. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Cell lines can be easily tested for cross-contamination and an increasing number of journals require authentication testing before publication. In my view, authentication testing would address the widespread use of KB as a model for oral cancer.

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is the current consensus for authentication testing. Online databases can be used to compare a laboratory's result to HeLa and other commonly occurring contaminants.

For more information on STR profiling see: http://iclac.org/resources/human-cell-line-authentication/.

For a list of known cross-contaminated cell lines see: http://iclac.org/databases/cross-contaminations/.