title: Morphologic analysis of three-dimensional tumors developed in fibrin matrix and agar culture system.
abstract: The three-dimensional growth of cultured tumor cell lines (HT29, a colon adenocarcinoma cell line; M21, a melanoma cell line; KB, a nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line) has been investigated in an agar culture system with a fibrin matrix in vitro. The tumor cells developed to tumors 3 x 3 mm in diameter after 10 days in culture in vitro. This size was large enough to allow histologic examination. The tumor cells located in the surface area of the three-dimensional tumor seemed to grow well. However, the tumor cells in the center degenerated or did not proliferate, indicating a lack of nutrition and/or anoxia in the center. The histologic comparison between the xenografted tumors on nude mice and the three-dimensional tumors in vitro suggests that the structures of the three-dimensional tumors were comparable, especially in the surface area, to the xenografted tumors. Furthermore, the antitumor effect of mitomycin C on the three-dimensional tumors was found to be dose-dependent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kumazawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koldovsky
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000362:Agar; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D005109:Extracellular Matrix; D005337:Fibrin; D006801:Humans; D007624:KB Cells; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000633:toxicity; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D016685:Mitomycin; D005337:Fibrin; D000362:Agar