American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Technologist in Cytogenetics certification (ASCP CG) Practice Test

What is the primary principle behind culturing solid tumors?

1. To prevent cell death

2. To generate an expandable cell population

3. To differentiate cell types

4. To maximize apoptosis

The correct answer is: To generate an expandable cell population

The primary principle behind culturing solid tumors is to generate an expandable cell population. This approach is essential for various applications, including studying tumor biology, developing treatments, and performing genetic analyses. When culturing solid tumors, the goal is to extract viable cancerous cells that can proliferate in vitro, allowing researchers and clinical professionals to conduct experiments, screen drugs, and investigate the tumor's characteristics further. Generating an expandable cell population is crucial because it ensures that there are enough cells available for analysis, which is necessary to understand tumor behavior and response to therapies. This capacity for expansion allows for the reproducibility of experiments and reliable generation of data. While preventing cell death and differentiating cell types might be considerations in cell culture, they are not the primary focus when it comes to solid tumors. Similarly, maximizing apoptosis is typically contrary to the objectives in cancer research, where sustaining and studying cancer cell survival and proliferation takes precedence for research and treatment evaluation.