Fine needle aspiration biopsy to reestablish cell culture in an animal model of uveal melanoma.

PURPOSE To access the reliability of fine-needle aspiration biopsy in harvesting a sufficient amount of viable melanoma cells to establish a cell culture and maintain a melanoma cell line from an animal model of uveal melanoma. METHODS For this study, fifteen male New Zealand albino rabbits had their right eye surgically inoculated with uveal melanoma cell line 92.1. The animals were immunosupressed with cyclosporine A using a dose schedule previously published. The animals were followed for 12 weeks. Intraocular tumor growth was monitored weekly by indirect ophthalmoscopy. After the fourth week, one animal was sacrificed per week preceded by fine-needle aspiration biopsy using a sharp 25-gauge, 1-inch long needle. Two separate aspirates were made from different areas of the tumor. Each aspirate was flushed to a separate cell culture media and sent for cell culture. The cells were frozen after two weeks when there were at least 1 million cells, which is enough to maintain a cell line. Cells were defrosted for HMB-45 immuno-stains to confirm the melanoma origin. RESULTS Cell growth was observed from the samples harvested from 11 out of the 15 animals inoculated with uveal melanoma. All cell cultures, after defrost, immunoassayed positive for HMB-45. CONCLUSION Fine needle aspiration biopsy seems to be a reliable method to harvest cells from solid intraocular melanomas in an animal model, to establish cell culture and to maintain a melanoma cell line.