BACKGROUND: In this study, responses to fatty acid treatments in commonly used 
prostate cancer cell culture models and variability of gene expression between 
them were determined.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: PC3, DU145, LNCaP, VCaP and PNT2 cells were treated with 
100 μM of either oleate, stearate or conjugated linoleate. Cell proliferation 
and viability were assessed using trypan blue and 3-(4, 
5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay 
respectively. Gene expression was measured using real-time polymerase chain 
reaction (PCR).
RESULTS: Conjugated linoleic acid reduced cell proliferation and viability in 
all prostate cancer cell lines, whilst the effects of oleic and stearic acid on 
proliferation were found to be cell line-dependent. A reduction in gene 
expression of fatty acid desaturases was observed in prostate cancer cell lines 
compared to normal prostate cells.
CONCLUSION: Differential responses of the cell lines investigated here to fatty 
acid treatment suggest that multiple prostate cancer cell line models should be 
used when designing experiments aimed at examining lipid metabolism in prostate 
cancer.