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Cancer Stem Cells pp 77–87Cite as

In Vitro Tumorigenic Assay: The Tumor Spheres Assay

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1692))

Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subpopulation of cells within cancer tissues that are thought to mediate tumor initiation. CSCs are furthermore considered the cause of tumor progression and recurrence after conventional therapies, based on their enhanced therapy resistance properties. A method commonly used to assess CSC potential in vitro is the so-called tumor spheres assay in which cells are plated under non-adherent culture conditions in serum-free medium supplemented with growth factors. Tumor spheres assays have been used in cancer research as an intermediate in vitro cell culture model to be explored before performing more laborious in vivo tumor xenograft assays.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to C. Lengerke (Project C6, SFB773) and the Schweizer Nationalfonds to C. Lengerke (SNF 310030E_164200).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departement of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Hebelstrasse 20, 4031, Basel, Switzerland

    Hui Wang, Anna M. Paczulla, Martina Konantz & Claudia Lengerke

  2. Division of Haematology, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, 4031, Basel, Switzerland

    Claudia Lengerke

Authors
  1. Hui Wang
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  2. Anna M. Paczulla
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  3. Martina Konantz
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  4. Claudia Lengerke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudia Lengerke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy

    Gianpaolo Papaccio

  2. Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy

    Vincenzo Desiderio

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Wang, H., Paczulla, A.M., Konantz, M., Lengerke, C. (2018). In Vitro Tumorigenic Assay: The Tumor Spheres Assay. In: Papaccio, G., Desiderio, V. (eds) Cancer Stem Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1692. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7401-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7401-6_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7400-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7401-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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