Comparison Between Different 3D Spheroid Tumor Invasion Models

This study aims to make a comparison between different forms of three-dimensional (3D) spheroid U87 tumor cell models that contain fibroblast cells as part of the tumor microenvironment. This purpose is to select the best representative tumor model to be used for further studies to investigate the effects of the anti-invasive pharmacological agents. For this purpose, different options to prepare the 3D spherical invasion model were tested based on the ability of the spheroids to invade in collagen microenvironment. There was a significant positive effect of the fibroblasts on the invasion of the U87 cells in the 3D invasion model compared with the control model that contains U87 cells alone. This result gives proof of the positive effect of the fibroblasts on invasion of tumor cells. Furthermore, these results add more proofs on the importance of adding cells of the tumor microenvironments to the tumor models to make the models more representative to the real in vivo tumor situation.