Do LTL human cancer tissue lines provide better cancer models than traditional cultured cell lines?
Yes. Both cancer tissue lines and cancer cell lines have been isolated from human cancer specimens. As distinct from cancer tissue lines, cancer cell lines have usually been obtained by long-term in vitro culturing. Since the in vitro microenvironment is not optimal, cancer subpopulations can be lost very quickly and additional genetic changes are often observed, resulting in substantial differences between the cell lines and the original cancers. On the other hand, the LTL cancer tissue lines are developed in the subrenal capsule graft site of mice — a micro-environment which more closely resembles that of the donor. This leads to retention of major characteristics of the original cancer (e.g., tumor growth and metastasis, morphology, genetic profile and drug sensitivity). As such, cancer tissue lines provide better cancer models for basic and translational cancer research, and pre-clinical drug screening.
