Development of in-vitro cell models from rare tumor cells

With 1-10 detectable cells per 10⁶ bone marrow cells, disseminated tumor cells (DTC) are among the rarest cell populations in the human organism. Nevertheless, isolated DTC can yield valuable information by direct ex-vivo analyses, such as identification of therapeutic targets including antigens, T-cell epitopes, and signaling pathways. Validation of target structures and their functional analysis, however, as well as epigenetic, protein-chemical, metabolomic, and biochemical analyses require additional cellular models.

This is why a focus of research at Fraunhofer ITEM in Regensburg is on establishing DTC cell lines, in particular from patients without manifest metastases at the time point of sampling. This includes the definition of tumor-specific and tissue-specific in-vitro culturing conditions and times which closely map the situation in patients. The generated cell lines are compared with the ex vivo isolated DTC regarding their genotypic and phenotypic properties and are planned to be used as representative models of the functional and molecular properties of disseminated tumor cells in patients.