Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck cultured in floating collagen gels: 1. The maintenance of stromal and epithelial elements in vitro without fibroblast overgrowth

Abstract

The study of the molecular biology of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas has been heavily reliant on the analysis of cell lines. This is largely because the maintenance of primary cell cultures is difficult. However, being monoclonal, cell lines are not representative of the primary tumor because of the loss of tumor cell heterogeneity. We report a technique for primary culture of squamous cell carcinomas with maintenance of epithelial and stromal cell components without overgrowth of the fibroblast cells. Phenotypic markers for fibroblasts and squamous cells were present up to 45 days after initiation of culture, and expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and involucrin in cultures paralleled that in the primary tumor. In vivo, tumor stromal elements are thought to play an important role in the support of epithelial cell growth. In the collagen gel system the preservation of the stromal cell component likely improves culture viability and growth. More importantly, this culture system allows the in vitro tumor to more accurately reflect the tumor from which it was derived, and it permits the study of primary squamous cell carcinomas under in vitro conditions. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1997;116:213-22.)