measuring the viability of cancer spheroids

Introduction

Cancer spheroids are three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models that closely mimic the in vivo tumor microenvironment, making them valuable for studying cancer biology and drug responses. Measuring the viability of these spheroids is crucial for evaluating the efficacy of anticancer treatments and understanding tumor behavior.

Key Insights

High Viability in Spheroid Models:
- Ovarian cancer spheroids generated in 384-well plates showed over 85% viability and demonstrated greater resistance to chemotherapy compared to 2D cultures.
- Glioma spheroids showed reliable and reproducible viability measurements using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity.
Real-Time and Automated Viability Assays:
- The Celigo Image Cytometer allows real-time measurement of viability and apoptosis in 3D tumor spheroids using PI and caspase 3/7 stains, providing time-dependent drug effect data.
- Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) offers a label-free, real-time method to monitor cell viability in large spheroids, showing potential for non-destructive assays.
Advanced Imaging and Detection Techniques:
- Positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-labeled deoxyglucose (18F-DG) enables sequential viability measurements in glioma spheroids, reducing the need for multiple samples.
- A hybrid gold nanostructure platform allows precise real-time electrochemical detection of anticancer effects in brain cancer spheroids without damaging the 3D structure.
Microfluidic and High-Throughput Platforms:
- A microfluidic platform for pleural cancer spheroids enables chemoresistive testing with minimal cell numbers, important for personalized medicine.
- High-throughput screening in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma spheroids using metabolic viability and imaging methods provides comprehensive drug impact assessments.
Challenges and Recommendations:
- Variability in spheroid volume and shape can affect treatment response, highlighting the need for pre-selection of homogeneous spheroids to reduce data variability.
- Combining multiple viability assays and morphological analyses can enhance the accuracy of drug efficacy evaluations in 3D spheroid cultures.

Conclusion

Measuring the viability of cancer spheroids is essential for accurate drug screening and understanding tumor biology. Various methods, including real-time imaging, automated cytometry, and advanced imaging techniques like PET and EIT, offer reliable and reproducible viability assessments. High-throughput and microfluidic platforms facilitate efficient testing, while addressing variability in spheroid characteristics can improve data consistency. These approaches collectively enhance the biological relevance and precision of cancer research using 3D spheroid models.

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Measuring the viability of cancer spheroids

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Formation of stable small cell number three-dimensional ovarian cancer spheroids using hanging drop arrays for preclinical drug sensitivity assays.

Ovarian cancer spheroids can be generated from limited cell numbers in 384 well plates with high viability, demonstrating therapeutic resistance compared to traditional 2D culture.

Quantification of Viability in Organotypic Multicellular Spheroids of Human Malignant Glioma using Lactate Dehydrogenase Activity: A Rapid and Reliable Automated Assay

This study developed a reliable and reproducible method for quantifying viability in organotypic glioma spheroids using lactate dehydrogenase activity, enabling accurate and reproducible drug response studies in this three-dimensional tumor model.

Real‐time viability and apoptosis kinetic detection method of 3D multicellular tumor spheroids using the Celigo Image Cytometer

This study demonstrates a real-time method to measure viability and apoptosis in 3D multicellular tumor spheroids, improving the current analysis method for cancer drug discovery research.

Electrical impedance tomography for real-time and label-free cellular viability assays of 3D tumour spheroids.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) effectively monitors cell viability in 3D tumor spheroids, providing valuable information for 3D drug screening and tissue engineering.

Assessing Cell Viability and Death in 3D Spheroid Cultures of Cancer Cells.

3D spheroids of cancer cells are a powerful tool for evaluating anticancer drug efficacy and understanding cancer cell biology, but optimal growth conditions and assessment methods differ between different types of cancer cells.

A Spheroid-Forming Hybrid Gold Nanostructure Platform That Electrochemically Detects Anticancer Effects of Curcumin in a Multicellular Brain Cancer Model.

The hybrid gold nanostructure platform efficiently forms 3D cancer spheroids and electrochemically detects curcumin's anticancer effects in a brain tumor model, offering a promising, precise, and high-throughput drug screening tool.

A microfluidic platform for chemoresistive testing of multicellular pleural cancer spheroids.

The microfluidic platform allows for chemoresistive testing of malignant pleural mesothelioma spheroids, potentially increasing their chemoresistance due to continuous support of nutrients and oxygen.

Evaluation of adenoviral oncolytic effect on glioma spheroids by 18F-DG positron-emission tomography.

18F-DG PET is a useful method for assessing small differences in cell number and viability after oncolytic viral therapy in glioma spheroids without disintegration, reducing the number of spheroids needed per experiment.

Maximizing the Value of Cancer Drug Screening in Multicellular Tumor Spheroid Cultures: A Case Study in Five Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines

Integrating morphology and dead-cell staining analyses into cancer drug screening in multicellular tumor spheroids increases the number of drugs judged to have substantial impact, maximizing the value of these more physiologically relevant tumor cultures.

3D tumor spheroid models for in vitro therapeutic screening: a systematic approach to enhance the biological relevance of data obtained

Pre-selecting tumor spheroids of homogeneous volume and shape is crucial for reducing data variability in cytotoxicity tests, improving the biological relevance of in vitro therapeutic screening.

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