Table 3 Main features of the most common spheroid models used in preclinical cancer research
From: Modeling neoplastic disease with spheroids and organoids
| Spheroid models | Cells of origin | Culture medium | Culture method | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multicellular tumor spheroids (MTS) | Established cancer cell lines | Conventional medium supplemented with serum | Non-adherent conditions | [87] |
| Multicellular tumor-derived spheroids (MTDS) | Cancer cells derived from dissociated tumor tissue | Medium without serum supplemented with growth factors (e.g., FGF2, EGF) |
Non-adherent conditions Pre-sorting of specific cancer cell populations | [91] |
| Heterotypic spheroids | Cancer cells mixed with stromal cells and/or immune cells | Conventional medium supplemented with serum |
Non-adherent conditions Physiological ratio cancer:stromal/ immune cells to mimic clinical tumors | [105,106,107] |