| abstract |
The invention presented here relates to a method for producing an artificial environment of primary cell populations, particularly an artificial tumor environment of primary tumor cell populations and its use in an ex vivo method to test the cellular responsiveness of primary tumor cell populations to a drug or drugs. The method of the invention comprises incubation of the primary tumor cells with the artificial tumor environment and the drug or drugs and analyze the response of the primary tumor cell populations. The incubation of the primary tumor cells with the artificial tumor environment, enhances the viability of said tumor cells and/or induces greater levels of tumor cell proliferation and, consequently, increases the sensitivity and accuracy of the test with regard to the drug/s assayed. |