March 17, 2008 –
Bioengineering Professor Luke Lee and his lab group have developed a technique to quickly generate three-dimensional artificial tumours that could help improve anti-cancer drug testing. The “tumour factory” offers a better alternative to the flat cultured cells currently used to test new anticancer drugs.
In a real cancer, different parts of a tumour are fed different amounts of oxygen. Cells growing in a flat monolayer all receive the same amounts of oxygen and are all exposed to an equal quantities of nutrients. Small clumps of cells known as 3D tumour spheroids provide a better model. But, until now, spheroids have had to be made one at a time in a process that produces different sizes each time. Lee’s group has developed a technique to quickly generate three-dimensional spheroids of a standard size at low cost. Lee’s new method is expected to accelerate cancer drug development significantly.
Read the full article at Technology.NewScientist.com