Cancer Cell Culture

Cancer affects people all around the world and has been a leading cause of death for many years. Whether your diagnosed with it or someone you know suffers from it cancer is a terrible disease no one should have to deal with. Scientist and researchers have been trying to come up with a cure for cancer for a while but none have been successful.

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       In the article “The Use of Ovarian Cancer Cells from Patients Undergoing Surgery to Generate Primary Cultures Capable of Undergoing Functional Analysis” by O’Donnell et al studies are being done using ascites and tumor tissue from patients with ovarian cancer during surgery to culture for diagnostic testing and research.

        “Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecological cancer mortality worldwide” (O’Donnell et al).  Doctors treat ovarian cancer as a single disease with surgery and chemotherapy but really ovarian cancer is a combination of different diseases. Researchers are now constructing a heterogeneous model to study. To be most accurate cells are used from the primary source. There are so many advantages to culturing from the primary source than any other model like cell lines or animal models. 

Samples were collected from patients at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead U.K. They were then transported to the lab and there some of the samples were added directly onto coverslips for analysis. In the case of the ascites cultures were 91% successful. “Establishment of cell cultures from tissue explants was achieved in 100% of cases” (O’Donnell et al).

Any research being done to better treat cancer patients is a step in the right direction. People shouldn’t have to suffer from such a horrible and body deteriorating disease any longer. I hope and believe one day there will be a cure with the right research and experimenting I think it is very possible. 

                                              Citation 

 O′Donnell RL, McCormick A, Mukhopadhyay A, Woodhouse LC, Moat M, Grundy A, et al. (2014) The Use of Ovarian Cancer Cells from Patients Undergoing Surgery to Generate Primary Cultures Capable of Undergoing Functional Analysis. PLoS ONE 9(3): e90604. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090604   Read about it here