Isolation and culture of ovarian tumour cells, cytological and cell survival evaluation

• The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility and reliability of the fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay (FMCA). Emphasis was placed on obtaining pure tumour cell cultures which were subjected to careful cytological evaluation. Preparations of 39 ovarian tumours, malignant, borderline and benign were made, of which 37 were successfully cultured. In 34 of the 37 tumour cell cultures, the epithelial cell fraction was > 90%, and in 30 of 39 cultures the epithelial cell fraction was > 95%. Transportation within 24 h and the 72 h incubation did not change the yield or epithelial cell fraction. There was a linear relationship between fluorescence and the number of viable cells. The fluorescence increased with time, making only comparisons within each assay plate possible. The sensitivity of the method makes it possible to perform many analyses on a small amount of material. The method also makes it possible to study cells derived from all stages of the disease, including benign tumours.

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