Long-Term Lines of Tissue Cultures of Intracranial Tumors

Abstract

S INCE 19~5 at tempts have been made to prepare tissue cultures from neoplasms of the central nervous system. Fischer 3 was the first to report viability of malignant glial tumors in tissue cultures for a period of months. Most reports have dealt with short-term tissue cultures, and few observations have been described dealing with longterm, permanent lines of tissue cultures. The latter easily permit both qualitative and quanti tat ive studies, such as heterologous transplantat ion of the lines, 7,s evaluation of the effects of changes in experimental environment, 9 virological investigations, 's and, in general, allow the observer to examine the dynamic properties and the modulation in form with the passage of time. ''6 In this laboratory, many permanent longterm tissue cultures have been established successfully; the oldest, dating to September 1957, continues to grow. TM I t is the purpose of this communication to describe a relat ively simple technique of long-term monolayer culturing of tissue by means of which several glial and nonglial neoplastic lines can be, and have been, propagated for long periods of time.