Abstract
Summary
A rapid method for the establishment of short-term primary cultures of human tumor cells obtained from fresh surgical biopsies is described. The method consists of the separation of the viable fraction of tumor cells by differential flotation on ficoll-hypaque density solution and its subsequent seeding into culture flasks. Tumor cell growth is established within 2–3 days. The incidence of overgrowth with fibroblasts is apparently reduced and usually delayed for 4–5 weeks, but cannot be prevented by this method.
This study was supported by Grant NOI-CB-33888 from the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20014. Dr. Mavligit and Gutterman are the recipients of Career Development Awards (I KO4 CA 00130 and 5 KO4 CA 71007, respectively) from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014.
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