Introduction Cancers in general, and specifically lung cancer, continue to have low patient survival rates when the patient is at an advanced stage when diagnosed. It appears that the local environment, especially fibroblasts and their signaling molecules, tends to induce metastasis, increase cancer cell resistance to treatment, and aid in tumor growth rates. Since 3-D models quickly become too complex and/or expensive, and therefore rarely leave the lab they are developed in, it is interesting to develop a 2-D model that more closely mimics the clustered tumor formation and bulk interaction with a surrounding fibroblast environment. Methods In the present study, we utilize an off-the-shelf stereolithography 3-D printer, standard use well plates, magnets, and metallic beads to create a customizable 2-D co-culture system capable of being analyzed quantitatively with staining and qualitatively with standard fluorescent/brightfield microscopy to determine cancer-fibroblast interactions while also being able to test chemotherapeutic drugs in a high-throughput manner with standard 96-well plates. Results Comparisons from monoculture and co-culture growth rates shows that the presence of fibroblasts allows for significantly increased growth rates for H460 cancer. Additionally, viability of cancer cells can be quantified with simple cell staining methods and morphology and cell-cell interactions can be observed and studied. Discussion The high throughput model demonstrates that boundary condition changes can be observed between cancer cells and fibroblasts based upon the different chemotherapeutics that have been administered.
S. Karger AG, Basel.