Comment on “Design, synthesis, anticancer activity and molecular docking of quinoline-based dihydrazone derivatives” by J.-X. Lu, H.-R. Lan, D. Zeng, J.-Y. Song, Y.-T. Hao, A.-P. Xing, A. Shen, and J. Yuan, RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 231–243

TL;DR

This comment points out that cell line contamination in a cancer drug study may invalidate its results.

Contribution

The novelty is identifying misidentified cell lines as HeLa-derived, undermining the study's conclusions.

Findings

BGC-823, BEL-7402, and HL-7702 cell lines are contaminated with HeLa cells.

This contamination affects the validity of anticancer activity conclusions.

Researchers should be cautious when interpreting cell-based cancer drug results.

Abstract

This comment addresses significant limitations in the study by Lu et al. (RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 231–243), which investigates the anticancer activity of quinoline-based dihydrazone derivatives. It highlights the misidentification and contamination of cell lines used in the research, specifically BGC-823, BEL-7402, and HL-7702, which are derived from HeLa cells rather than being true representations of human gastric cancer, human hepatoma, or normal liver cells. The letter emphasizes the need for caution when interpreting findings related to cell state (normal versus tumor) due to these discrepancies, as they may significantly affect conclusions regarding efficacy and safety profiles in anticancer research.

This comment critically evaluates a study by Lu and colleagues, highlighting the misidentification and HeLa cell contamination in the three cell lines used to evaluate the anticancer properties of quinoline-based dihydrazone derivatives.

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