Establishment and phenotyping of neurosphere cultures from primary neuroblastoma samples.

: Primary cell culture using serum free media supplemented with growth factors has been used in a number of cancers to propagate primary cells with stem like properties, which form as spherical cellular aggregates. : We systematically evaluated the capacity of freshly disaggregated neuroblastoma tumors to become established as neurospheres in stem cell media using a uniform protocol. 67 primary neuroblastoma samples from patients treated at a single institution were prospectively evaluated for their ability to become established in culture.