Hepatoma cell line HepG2.2.15 demonstrates distinct biological features compared with parental HepG2

Table 1 Pathological analysis in vivo

Tumor behavior	HepG2		HepG2.2.15
	Cell injection (n = 10)	Tissue implantation (n = 10)	Cell injection (n = 10)	Tissue implantation (n = 10)
Formation (%)	100	100	10d	40a
Volume (cm3)	3.1 ± 1.1	1.7 ± 0.4	2.1	2.3 ± 0.3
Growth	Expensive growth and central necrosis	Same	Same	Same
Surrounding tissue	Degeneration and necrosis	Same	Same	Same
Normal tissue	Spotty or piecemeal necrosis, scattered fat droplets and vacuolation, focal inflammatory infiltration	Spotty or piecemeal necrosis, diffuse fatty change 40% and focal inflammatory infiltration	Spotty or piecemeal necrosis, diffuse or scattered fatty change 50%, focal inflammatory infiltration and diffuse cytoplasmic swelling of liver cells	Spotty or piecemeal necrosis, diffuse fatty change 40%, focal inflammatory infiltration and mild cytoplasmic swelling of liver cells
Tumor invasion	Abdominal wall 100%; pancreas 37.5%; esophago 12.5%	Abdominal wall 50%; pancreas 12.5%; diaphragma/ribs 10%	Abdominal wall 10%	Diaphragma/ribs 10%
Metastasis
Intra-liver	75% (6/8)	30% (3/10)	0	0
Lung	50% (4/8)	0	10% (1/10)	10% (1/10)

^aP < 0.05 vs HepG2 tissue implantation group;

^dP < 0.001 vs HepG2 cell injected group, χ² test.