Correlation of histology and drug response of human tumors grown in native-state three-dimensional histoculture and in nude mice.

An in vitro histoculture system in which a native-state collagen-sponge gel supports the three-dimensional growth of tumor tissue has been recently developed that allows the culture and drug response assay for most every tumor type. Important features of the histoculture system include the maintenance of three-dimensional tissue architecture and the use of histological autoradiography to measure nuclear incorporation of [3H]thymidine as an endpoint. We describe in this report in vitro-in vivo correlations for drug response and tumor histology by using human tumor xenografts grown in the native-state three-dimensional histoculture system and as xenografts in nude mice. This comparison eliminates many of the confounding variables seen in most correlative clinical trials. Results demonstrate (i) a very high preservation of in vivo tissue architecture in vitro, (ii) an 86% accuracy in vitro of predicting drug resistance in vivo using suprapharmacologic doses of drugs in vitro, and (iii) an overall predictive frequency of drug resistance and sensitivity ranging from 53% for 5-fluorouracil to 78% for doxorubicin.