Objective:To establish a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line derived from portal vein tumor thrombus and study its biological characteristics.Methods: Specimens of liver cancer and its metastasis-portal vein tumor thrombi (PVTT) were freshly resected during operation.The tissues were primary cultured by collagenase Ⅰ digestion method and proliferated.The cell line derived from PVTT grew well.The biological characteristics of the cells were studied by light microscopy,electron microscopy,chromosome analysis,and transplantation experiment.Results: The cell line derived from portal vein tumor thrombus,named CSQT-1,has been cultivated for one year and sub-cultured for more than 100 passages in vitro.The cells either grew as compact colonies (in clusters) or as a monolayered sheet,with a doubling time of 48 h,and exhibited a typical malignant epithelial morphology.The median range of chromosome number was 87-90.Tumor nodes were observed under the skin of nude mice after subcutaneous xenograft transplantation for a month.The established cell line stably expressed CD133.Conclusion: We have successfully established a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line from PVTT.