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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Nov 8.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Cancer. 2001 Oct;1(1):46–54. doi: 10.1038/35094059

Figure 4. The tumour microenvironment assay.

Figure 4

a. Primary breast carcinoma cells form spherical colonies when cultured in three-dimensional collagen type I. b. Co-cultivation with stromal cells, however, causes the tumour cells to spread and become invasive. The degree of tumour growth increases with the density of the stromal cells. Staining of the coculture assay (c) and of tumour (d) with anti-vimentin antibody reveals the structural similarities of stromal cells in the presence or absence of cancer cells. (Reproduced with permission from REF. 142 © (1995) American Society for Clinical Investigation.)