We succeeded in establishing a cell line (KEN-3) for subculture from a fibrosarcoma which originated in the ovary in a girl aged 17 years. Its characteristics and sensitivity to anticancer agents are reported in this paper. 1. Characteristics of established cell line. Lined cells consist of multinucleated giant cells mixed among many spindle-shaped cells. They grow in small colonies and have none of the pavement-like arrangement characteristic of epithelial tumor cells. The number of chromosomes ranged from 45 to 128 (mode: pseudo-triploidy region, 65). The doubling time, cellular density and plating efficiency were 76.9 hours, 5.4 x 10(5)/cm2 and 30.2%, respectively. Concerning tumor markers, CEA and sialyl SSEA-1 were only produced in small quantities. Subculture was possible subcutaneously in the nude mouse with no capacity for the production of ascites. 2. Susceptibility to anticancer agents and GP170 expression. The in vitro susceptibility to about 12 types of anticancer agents was investigated with the MTT assay. IC50/PPC was shown to be less than 1 for Adriamycin only. The sensitivity to CDDP (IC50/PPC: 4.8) was low, and no sensitivity was observed at all to DTIC, which is used frequently for mesenchymal tumors. GP170 (mdr-1 products) was positive in established cells in immunohistochemical stain.