title: In vitro modeling of the prostate cancer microenvironment.
abstract: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in men and advanced disease is incurable. Model systems are a fundamental tool for research and many in vitro models of prostate cancer use cancer cell lines in monoculture. Although these have yielded significant insight they are inherently limited by virtue of their two-dimensional (2D) growth and inability to include the influence of tumour microenvironment. These major limitations can be overcome with the development of newer systems that more faithfully recreate and mimic the complex in vivo multi-cellular, three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment. This article presents the current state of in vitro models for prostate cancer, with particular emphasis on 3D systems and the challenges that remain before their potential to advance our understanding of prostate disease and aid in the development and testing of new therapeutic agents can be realised.
authors.affiliation: Prostate Cancer Research Group, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: Stuart.Ellem@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Stuart J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ellem
authors.affiliation: Regenerative Medicine Program, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Elena M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: De-Juan-Pardo
authors.affiliation: Prostate Cancer Research Group, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Gail P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Risbridger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: 2D; 3D; Matrix; Microenvironment; Prostate; Prostate cancer; Scaffolds; Stroma