Spheroid Culture in Cancer Research (1991)

Book excerpt: Spheroid Culture in Cancer Research describes the various techniques now available for establishing spheroid tissue culture, including spheroid culture from normal tissues and from tumor cell lines. The book also describes how the spheroid system can be used to study interactions between normal and malignant cells. Microenvironmental conditions in spheroids and how this micromilieu may promote cellular heterogeneity and histiotypic structures not observed in corresponding monolayer cultures are discussed. The biological importance of oxygen tension, pH gradients, diffusions of nutrients, and cell-cell communication in spheroids are also examined. The book will be profoundly important to researchers in experimental chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and hyperthermia.