3D cell culture methods — and multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS), in particular — are quickly becoming a valuable tool for studying the tumor microenvironment in cancer research.
Cancer scientists are creating increasingly complex tumor models that more accurately replicate in vivo conditions — including the tumor microenvironment, which plays a key role in tumor progression, according to a study published in BioTechniques.
MCTS mimic many of the features that tumors exhibit in the human body, including extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition between cells, gradients in nutrient concentration, and strong cell-cell junctions.