A method for studying hormone dependent tumors

摘要

A method of examining hormone-dependent tumors which comprises culturing tumor tissues in each of (a) a medium, (b) a medium containing a hormone synthetase substrate, and (c) a medium containing both a hormone synthetase substrate and a hormone synthetase inhibitor, measuring the growth rate of tumor cells in each medium, determining (i) the ratio of the growth rate of tumor cells in the presence of a hormone synthetase substrate to that in a medium alone and (ii) the ratio of the growth rate of tumor cells in the presence of both a hormone synthetase substrate and a hormone synthetase inhibitor to that in a medium alone. This method enables judging whether there are any hormone synthetase and hormone-dependent growth of hormone-dependent tumors readily at the same time. Further it can be employed for developing a new method of classifying tumors and selecting a guide line for tumor therapy.