title: Effect of hyperthermia on liver cell lines: important findings for thermal therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fifth most common malignant tumour, with a high mortality rate. This study aimed to investigate the effect of hyperthermia on HepG2 and LX-1 cell lines to gain more information on thermal treatment of liver tumours.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cell lines HepG2, LX-1 and their co-cultures were heated from 55°C to 85°C for different time spans. After heat exposure, metabolic activity was measured immediately, and after 24 h and 48 h using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) (MTS) test to assess how many cells had survived heating.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results show highly significant differences between the temperature tolerance of HepG2 and LX-1 cells. Alone, HepG2 cells are most sensitive to heat-induced cell death, their sensitivity decreased with rising percentages of LX-1 cells in the co-culture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the outcome of thermal cancer therapy is dependent on the temperature and the grade of fibrosis in the treated livers.
authors: Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation Surgery, Medical University Graz, Austria. ursula.mayrhauser@medunigraz.at
authors: Ursula
authors: U
authors: Mayrhauser
authors: Philipp
authors: P
authors: Stiegler
authors: Vanessa
authors: V
authors: Stadlbauer
authors: Sonja
authors: S
authors: Koestenbauer
authors: Bettina
authors: B
authors: Leber
authors: Katja
authors: K
authors: Konrad
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: Iberer
authors: Rupert Horst
authors: RH
authors: Portugaller
authors: Karlheinz
authors: K
authors: Tscheliessnigg