Progress of multi-cellular tumor spheroids culture technique for treatment of bladder cancer

Cell culture is an important tool for biological research. To better understand the pathogenesis and therapeutic methods of the tumors, the three-dimensional cell culture is applied by more and more researchers to create a culture environment that closes to the tumor microenvironment. Thanks to the advances in the tissue engineering technology, many kinds of models of the three-dimensional cell culture achieve wide accessibility. Compared with the traditional two-dimensional cell culture, the three-dimensional cell culture is better in simulating physiological features of the human histology and cells, including cell proliferation and differentiation, the interaction of cell to cell and cell to matrix. This paper reviews the progress of multi-cellular tumor spheroids (MCTS) culture technique of the three-dimensional cell culture for treatment of bladder cancer. Key words: Urinary bladder neoplasms; Three-dimensional cell culture; Multi-cellular tumor spheroids; Tumor microenvironment