ArticleOncotarget2016
The relevance of using 3D cell cultures, in addition to 2D monolayer cultures, when evaluating breast cancer drug sensitivity and resistance.
Article in Oncotarget, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 173 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
173 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Unlocking the Potential of Spheroids in Personalized Medicine: A Systematic Review of Seeding Methodologies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- Current Perspectives on 2D and 3D Cell Culture Models in Cancer Research: Molecular Determinants of Tumor Biology and Therapeutic Response.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Article
- Evaluation of a Simple 3D Bioengineered Model: A Step Closer to Bridging the In Vitro-In Vivo Gap in Osteosarcoma Research.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Advantages and research progress of three-dimensional culture systems for lung cancer drug screening (Review).Oncology letters · 2026Review
- Adaptation of Non-Invasive Cancer Cells to 3D Collagen I Microenvironment Induces Transcriptional Reprogramming Accompanied by a More Complex RNA Landscape.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Comparative evaluation of the effects of Silymarin on the metastatic characteristics of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with two-dimensional and three-dimensional culture methods.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Article
- Integrated Experimental-Computational Framework for Drug Transport Quantification in 3DMicromachines · 2026Article
- Functionalized Biomaterials in the Investigation of the Effects of Fluid Shear Forces in the Immune Regulation of Cancer Progression and Metastasis.Journal of functional biomaterials · 2026Review
- Indocyanine Green as a Theragnostic Agent in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Cell Culture Substrate Variation Alters Extracellular Vesicle Biogenesis Without Affecting Non-Coding Repeat RNA Profile.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Breast Cancer Multicellular Spheroid Models-A Tool for Studying Cancer Biology; a Possible Platform for Drug Screening and Personalized Medicine.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Beyond monolayers: a comparative analysis of 2D cell cultures and 3DFrontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Quantifying single-cell responses to irradiation in 3D.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Repurposing Artesunate to Combat Progression and Metastasis via Targeting Circulating Tumor Cells.Oncology research · 2026Article
- Development of synovial sarcoma organoids exhibiting ferroptosis resistance despite low malic enzyme 1 expression.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- IL7R remodels immunosuppression tumor microenvironment and promotes macrophage polarization by regulating NF-κB/CXCL1 axis in ovarian cancer.Cell death & disease · 2025Article
- Molecular Pathways Affected by Sulfonylpurine Derivatives in 2D and 3D HeLa Cell Models.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- 3D Breast Cancer Spheroids Reveal Architecture-Dependent HER2 Expression and Signaling.Biology · 2025Article
113 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Solid tumours naturally grow in 3D wherein the spatial arrangement of cells affects how they interact with each other. This suggests that 3D cell culture may mimic the natural in vivo setting better than traditional monolayer (2D) cell culture, where cells are grown attached to plastic. Here, using HER2-positive breast cancer cell lines as models (BT474, HCC1954, EFM192A), the effects of culturing cells in 3D using the poly-HEMA method compared to 2D cultures were assessed in terms of cellular viability, response/resistance to anti-cancer drugs, protein expression and enzyme activity. Scanning electron microscopy showed the morphology of cells in 3D to be substantially different to those cultured in 2D. Cell viability in 3D cells was substantially lower than that of cells in 2D cultures, while 3D cultures were more resistant to the effects of HER-targeted (neratinib) and classical chemotherapy (docetaxel) drugs. Expression of proteins involved in cell survival, transporters associated with drug resistance and drug targets were increased in 3D cultures. Finally, activity of drug metabolising enzyme CYP3A4 was substantially increased in 3D compared to 2D cultures. Together this data indicates that the biological information represented by 3D and 2D cell cultures is substantially different i.e. 3D cell cultures demonstrate higher innate resistance to anti-cancer drugs compared to 2D cultures, which may be facilitated by the altered receptor proteins, drug transporters and metabolising enzyme activity. This highlights the importance of considering 3D in addition to 2D culture methods in pre-clinical studies of both newer targeted and more traditional anti-cancer drugs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.