Generation of multicellular tumor spheroids by the hanging-drop method.

Owing to their in vivo-like characteristics, three-dimensional (3D) multicellular tumor spheroid (MCTS) cultures are gaining increasing popularity as an in vitro model of tumors. A straightforward and simple approach to the cultivation of these MCTS is the hanging-drop method. Cells are suspended in droplets of medium, where they develop into coherent 3D aggregates and are readily accessed for analysis. In addition to being simple, the method eliminates surface interactions with an underlying substratum (e.g., polystyrene plastic or agarose), requires only a low number of starting cells, and is highly reproducible. This method has also been applied to the co-cultivation of mixed cell populations, including the co-cultivation of endothelial cells and tumor cells as a model of early tumor angiogenesis.