Cancer tissue-derived cell mass and a process for preparing same

Abstract

Disclosed is a novel cell mass derived from a cancer tissue, which can reflect the in vivo behavior of a cancer cell correctly. Also disclosed is a process for preparing the cell mass. Specifically disclosed is a cell mass derived from a cancer tissue, which is an separated product that is isolated from a cancer tissue obtained from an individual as a mass containing at least three cancer cells or a cultured product of the separated product and which can retain a proliferation ability in vitro. The cell mass derived from a cancer tissue is produced by, for example, a preparation process comprising the steps of: treating a pulverized product of a cancer tissue removed from a living body with an enzyme; and selecting and collecting a mass containing at least three cancer cells among from an enzymatic treatment product.

1 . A composition comprising a plurality of cultured cancer tissue-derived cell masses, wherein each of the plurality of masses comprises a plurality of cancer cells of
 a separated product that is separated from a cancer tissue obtained from an individual as a mass, and   wherein each of the cultured cancer tissue-derived cell mass takes almost spherical or ellipsoidal form and can retain a proliferation ability in vitro and wherein the composition does not contain substantially any cells other than cancer cells.   
     
     
         2 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the cultured cancer tissue-derived cell mass is obtained by a process comprising the step of treating a cancer tissue obtained from an individual with a collagenase-containing enzyme. 
     
     
         3 . The composition of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the cultured cancer tissue-derived cell mass is obtained by a process comprising the step of treating a cancer tissue obtained from an individual with a mixed enzyme comprising at least one protease selected from the group consisting of  C. histolyticum  neutral protease, thermolysin, and dispase; and at least one collagenase selected from the group consisting of collagenase I, collagenase II, and collagenase IV. 
     
     
         4 . The composition according to  claim 3 , wherein the mixed enzyme is LIBERASE BLENDZYME 1®. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The composition according to  claims 1  to  4 , further comprising a basement membrane-like material present on a circumference surface of each of the cultured cancer tissue-derived cell mass. 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . The composition according to  claim 6 , wherein the basement membrane-like material is laminin. 
     
     
         9 . The composition according to  claim 1 , which has a diameter of 40 μm to 250 μm. 
     
     
         10 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cancer cells are derived from an epithelial cancer cell. 
     
     
         11 . The composition according to  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of cancer cells are derived from a cancer tissue of the group: colon cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, pharyngeal cancer, and pancreatic cancer. 
     
     
         12 . A process for preparing a composition comprising a plurality of cultured cancer tissue-derived cell masses, which comprises the steps of:
 treating, with an enzyme, a pulverized product of a cancer tissue removed from a living body; and   selecting and collecting a mass containing at least three cancer cells from the enzymatically treated product, and   culturing the collected masses to obtain a cultured product that takes an almost spherical or ellipsoidal form and does not contain substantially any cells other than cancer cells.   
     
     
         13 . The process for preparing a composition according to  claim 12 , wherein the step of culturing the collected mass is for a time of at least three hours. 
     
     
         14 . The process for preparing a composition according to  claim 12  or  13 , wherein the selection and collection comprises using a sieve. 
     
     
         15 . The process for preparing a composition according to  claim 12  or  13 , wherein the step of selecting and collecting a mass containing at least three cancer cells is a step of collecting an oversized component using a sieve with a mesh size of 40 μm and collecting an undersized component using a sieve with a mesh size of 250 μm. 
     
     
         16 . The preparation process according to  claim 12 , wherein the enzyme is a collagenase-containing enzyme. 
     
     
         17 . The process for preparing a composition according to  claim 16 , wherein the enzyme is a mixed enzyme comprising at least one protease selected from the group consisting of  C. histolyticum  neutral protease, thermolysin, and dispase; and at least one collagenase selected from the group consisting of collagenase I, collagenase II, and collagenase IV. 
     
     
         18 . The process for preparing a composition according to  claim 17 , wherein the mixed enzyme is LIBERASE BLENDZYME 1®. 
     
     
         19 . The composition which is obtained by the preparation process according to  claim 12  or  13 . 
     
     
         20 . A cultured product produced by the process according to  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of masses comprises at least 10 cancer tissue-derived cell masses. 
     
     
         21 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of masses comprises at least 10 cancer tissue-derived cell masses.