Growing primary cells:
Tumour cells
Normal cells
I. Growing patient-derived tumour cells:
Why grow primary tumour cells?
Individual tumours are unique because of their unique genetic changes (prostate cancer for example, below left). To rapidly decipher such genetic alterations in tumour cells and to find the effective drugs for individual patient, are essential to achieve the success of precision therapy (below right).
Tumors of individual patients demonstrate unique genetic alterations
Deciphering unique genetic alterations of cancer may guide the cancer therapy
The challenge for current precision cancer therapy
Currently, it lacks an ideal model allowing rapid characterization of genetic alterations in tumours so that to find drugs right for individual patients. While the most acclaimed Patient-derived xenograft (PDX), growing human tumours on immnune-compromised mice, is the very good model, it is expensive and takes too long time, more than 90-210 days, thus hardly aligning with clinical decision-making.
What can we do ?
In a significant shorter time, about 30 – 60 days, clinicians can be informed the precise drugs to use for individual patients.
Our protocols
Surgical tumour samples are processed into single cells and then plated in a specialized tissue culture system. In about 10 days, cells can be grown up into sufficient numbers for genetic characterization (about 10 days), in vitro drug assays(about 10 days) and/or for in vivo animal assays (about 60 days).
Particularly, if available, viable circulating tumour cells (CTCs, 10 or more cells) collected from blood of the patients are plated to grow in this specialized system. CTCs can provide unique and precious information for diagnosis, prognosis and clinical management of cancers as well.
Proof of success
Tumour cells of different origins can be grown up unlimitedly, allowing rapid screen for drug or drugs in combinations.
Tumour cells grown up from surgical samples form authentic tumours, ideal for assaying efficacy and toxicity of drugs in vivo.
II. Growing primary normal cells
With a very well optimized and specialized culture system, we are able to grow normal cells from prostate, kidney, liver etc, which may provide sources of cells for implant or transplant.
Talk to us
Normal or cancerous cells, we can grow them up to meet your needs. For any information or help: