In vivo-like growth patterns of multiple types of tumors in Gelfoam® histoculture

Abstract

Diverse human tumors obtained directly from surgery or biopsy can grow at high frequency in 3-dimensional Gelfoam® histoculture for long periods of time and still maintain many of their in vivo properties. The in vivo properties maintained in vitro include 3-dimensional growth; maintenance of tissue organization and structure, such as changes associated with oncogenic transformation; retention of differentiated function; tumorigenicity; and growth of multiple types of cells from a single tumor.