Technologies for deriving primary tumor cells for use in personalized cancer therapy

Abstract

For decades, immortal cancer cell lines have constituted an accessible, easily usable set of biological models to investigate cancer biology and explore the potential efficacy of anticancer drugs. However, numerous studies have suggested that these cell lines poorly represent the diversity, heterogeneity, and drug-resistant tumors occurring in patients. The derivation and short-term culture of primary cells from solid tumors have thus gained significant importance in personalized cancer therapy. This review focuses on our current understanding and the pros and cons of different methods for primary tumor cell culture. Furthermore, various culture matrices such as biomimetic scaffolds and chemically defined media supplemented with essential nutrients, have been prepared for different tissues. These well-characterized primary tumor cells redefine cancer therapies with high translational relevance.

Figure 1

A schematic representation of the process of primary tumor cell line establishment. Primary neoplastic mass is dissociated either by enzymatic or chemical or mechanical method as per tissue origin. Then tumor cells are enriched from single cell suspensions by 2D, 3D, explant, precision cut, sandwich or cancer stem cell isolation method. These cells are cultured with media by adding suitable tissue specific supplements.