Hollow fiber bioreactor for high density and continuous production of carcinoembryonic antigen

Continuous cultivation of CW2 cells (a human colorectal adenocarcinoma tumor cell) using a hollow fiber bioreactor was investigated for the production of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) over 34 days. The CEA production rate increased with the increase in incubation time up to 20 days and was found to be approximately a constant value, 20 ng/cm² day, after the incubation time of 20 days. The CEA production rate was known to vary in different cell lines. The CEA production rates were compared with those obtained in this study and in the literature using hollow fiber bioreactors. It was found that CW2 cells produced CEA moderately among those cell lines. The high cell density (9.1 × 10⁶ cells/cm²) achieved in the hollow fiber bioreactor compared to the flask culture (4.0 × 10⁵ cells/cm²) made it possible to obtain continuous high production of CEA over an extended time period.