The ACHN cell line was initiated in November, 1979 from the malignant pleural effusion of a 22-year-old Caucasian male with widely metastatic renal adenocarcinoma (autopsy confirmed). Cells were seeded directly to culture flasks in Eagle's MEM with 10% FBS, then maintained and passaged 150 days in flasks. Cells were then inoculated subcutaneously into nude mice. After 4 weeks, palpable, locally invasive tumors were noted. Both the original cells (ACHN) and those recovered from nude mouse tumors ere growth-inhibited by human interferons.