Wissensbasierte Cytometry and imaging of tumour spheroids

Objective: In the past, the majority of antitumour compound screening approaches had been performed in two-dimensional cell cultures. Although easy to establish and standardize, this culture method provides results of limited significance, as cells are surrounded by an artificial microenvironment, are not exposed to oxygenation gradients, and lack cell-cell contacts. Such conditions directly affect the resistance to various anticancer drugs. Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures maintain relevant biochemical and morphological properties of cancer cells and therefore more closely resemble the in vivo situation in…