Establishment and characterization of colon carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma primary cultures

Patients with metastatic renal and colon carcinoma have a very poor prognos is. In many cases, the tumor recurs after surgical excision and chemotherap y. Therefore, it might be beneficial for cancer patients to induce an immun e attack against the tumor by inserting a cytokine gene into the tumor cell s. Here, two different techniques for isolation of single tumor cells were com pared. An enzymatic solution was superior to an EDTA/DTT isolation solution for establishing tumor primary cultures. In total, 18 primary cell culture s could be established from 68 patients with colon and renal cell carcinoma . Cells were further characterized concerning fibroblast contamination, cel l proliferation and HLA-typing. These primary tumor cells might be of value for cytokine gene transfer and in vaccination protocols for cancer patients.