title: Are primary cultures realistic models of prostate cancer?
abstract: Primary cultures fill a unique niche among the repertoire of in vitro model systems available to investigate the biology of the normal and malignant human prostate. This review summarizes some of the properties of primary cultures, with special emphasis on two questions: are primary cultures from adenocarcinomas really comprised of cancer rather than normal cells, and do primary cultures faithfully retain characteristics of cells of origin?
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5118, USA. dpeehl@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Peehl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D016922:Cellular Senescence / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D007633:Keratins