Earlier work demonstrated that the transcription factor C/EBPα can convert 
immature and mature murine B lineage cells into functional macrophages. Testing 
>20 human lymphoma and leukemia B cell lines, we found that most can be 
transdifferentiated at least partially into macrophage-like cells, provided that 
C/EBPα is expressed at sufficiently high levels. A tamoxifen-inducible subclone 
of the Seraphina Burkitt lymphoma line, expressing C/EBPαER, could be 
efficiently converted into phagocytic and quiescent cells with a transcriptome 
resembling normal macrophages. The converted cells retained their phenotype even 
when C/EBPα was inactivated, a hallmark of cell reprogramming. Interestingly, 
C/EBPα induction also impaired the cells' tumorigenicity. Likewise, C/EBPα 
efficiently converted a lymphoblastic leukemia B cell line into macrophage-like 
cells, again dramatically impairing their tumorigenicity. Our experiments show 
that human cancer cells can be induced by C/EBPα to transdifferentiate into 
seemingly normal cells at high frequencies and provide a proof of principle for 
a potential new therapeutic strategy for treating B cell malignancies.