Table 2. Overall survival in hanging drop cultures with time and media composition.
| |
Survival NT/CIS % (n) |
Survival seminoma % (n) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time (days) | Media with 10% FBS | Media with 0.1% BSA | Media with 10% FBS | Media with 0.1% BSA |
| 0 |
100 (39) |
100 (27) |
100 (24) |
100 (21) |
| 2 |
100 (25) |
100 (10) |
100 (16) |
100 (13) |
| 3 |
100 (41) |
100 (14) |
100 (14) |
100 (14) |
| 5 |
100 (39) |
100 (13) |
100 (18) |
89 (9) |
| 7 |
100 (36) |
100 (12) |
83 (18) |
50 (6) |
| 10 |
100 (33) |
89 (9) |
56 (9) |
0 (6) |
| 14 | 100 (42) | 83 (12) | 17 (12) | ND |
Abbreviations: BSA=bovine serum albumin; CIS=carcinoma in situ; FBS=fetal bovine serum; n=number of samples; ND=not determined; NT=testis tissue with areas containing full spermatogenesis, termed normal testis.
This assay only provides a yes/no answer (colour change) to identify the proportion of culture samples retaining viable cells based on the measurement of ongoing metabolic activity. The assay cannot discriminate which cells within a tissue fragment are alive or how many. Therefore, it is still possible that some cells are dying within the specimen despite a ‘100%' survival outcome.