ALTEX :: Alternatives to Animal Experiments

2001, VOLUME 1

In vitro Measurement of Cancer Tissue Invasion into Healthy Tissue as a Replacement Method for Animal Experiments

Helmut A. Tritthart, Trevor DeVaney, Manfred Hartbauer and Helmut Ahammer

Department of Internal Medicine, Inst. of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Karl-Franzens-Universität A-Graz

Cancer is a life threatening disease, metastases can form in the body which leads to organ damage and weakening of the tissues through rapid cell division and growth. Small tumours are also capable of producing metastases.

The main aim of cancer research is the discovery of the factors involved in the development of metastases. The inhibition of the development of metastases would be a method for the successful prevention of the life threatening process of metastasis formation in cancer. Many animal experiments are used to reach the above aim. Modern methods that make use of tissue culture would be a scientifically and publicly desirable alternative to these very painful and stressful animal experiments.

Here we present an alternative method to the above experiments. Here we make use of the spheroid confrontation method whereby continuous observation and three dimensional reconstruction of optical sections play a crucial role.

Optical sectioning of the living tissues has been made possible in that a confocal scanning microscope, fluorescent stains, and an micro-incubation chamber have been used in combination in order to enable dynamic observation of the invasive processes.

The micro incubator enables observation and optical sectioning during growth through constant temperature and gas mix.

Using new image analysis techniques it is possible to determine the stages and processes involved in the invasion process.

We hope that this new tissue culture method and analysis method will enable the replacement of painful and stressful animal experiments.