ABSTRACT
Cells derived from human bladder tumors can be maintained in tissue culture indefinitely. The growth of cells derived from human bladder tumors was described first in 1917. However, only a small proportion of cultured tumors will give rise to such continuous or established cell lines, and the cultivation and characterization of such cells requires considerable expertise. Continuous cell lines derived from transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis and ureter are included in this review because of the similarity of these tumors to transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder. The most common method for establishing continuous cell lines from human bladder tumors is explant culture. Antibiotics are often added to the primary culture medium and in some cases to the medium used to maintain the continuous cell lines. The use of continuous cell lines as a model for bladder cancer therapy has been suggested.
