Methods for separating malignant cells from clinical specimens

Abstract From the Canadian patent

Fragments of a biopsy sample on the order of about 50 to 5000 cells are preferred for establishing viable tumor cell cultures for purposes such as establishing cell lines, chemotherapeutic assays and the like. Such fragments retain the, three-dimensional cellular structure or organization of the original tumor and, therefore, can be cultured more readily. To obtain such fragments suitable for culturing, the biopsy sample can be enzymatically digested in a proteolytic or nucleolytic enzyme such, as collagenase, or by mechanical dissociation or, both where necessary. The fragments can then be suspended in an aqueous medium so that non-aggregated cells (e.g. red blood cells, lymphocytes …