Abstract
Extract: Explants from 14 of 29 solid tumors of children formed colonies in soft agar, as did trypsin-dispersed cells from 9 to 17 solid tumors. The histologic characteristics of the colonies of 8 tumors were similar to those of the tumor from which they were derived. Colonies from 5 of the tumor cultures did not induce tumors when transplanted into adolescent hamsters.
Cells from the bone marrow of 14 children with acute leukemia did not form colonies in agar.
Cells from none of 5 normal human fetal tissues formed colonies; explants from 4 to 7 hyperplastic but not neoplastic tissues formed colonies in agar. The agar culture method is useful in cultivating human cancer cells; it cannot be used to differentiate neoplastic from hyperplastic cells.
Speculation: The present studies indicate that cells from certain human cancers from colonies in soft agar medium. This culture method gives a selective growth advantage to cancer cells and may be useful for in vitro studies of the biology of human cancer.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mcallister, R., Reed, G. Colonial Growth in Agar ofcells Derived from Neoplastic and Non-Neoplastic Tissues of Children. Pediatr Res 2, 356–360 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-196809000-00004
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-196809000-00004
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Inhibited methionine incorporation in human squamous carcinomas of the oral cavity as a measure for response to 5-fluorouracil
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology (1989)
-
Correlation of tumor-cell growth in four semisolid systems
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology (1983)
-
The human tumor cloning assay in cancer drug development
Investigational New Drugs (1983)
-
The use of agarose in the determination of anchorage-independent growth
In Vitro (1979)
-
Physical and nutritional factors in gel culture of mammalian cells
In Vitro (1978)