Methods and protocols for the primary isolation and in vitro culture of breast cancer cells

Globally, breast cancer accounts for approximately 23% of all cancer diagnosed in women, and an estimated one in every nine women develop the disease during their lifetime. This chapter reviews both the advantages and disadvantages of using certain methods or protocols including various two- and three- dimensional cell culture models when either isolating or culturing primary breast cancer cells from breast tissue biopsies or simply culturing established immortalized cell lines. This chapter guides researchers on how to preserve the heterogeneity of breast cancer cell lines in terms of either isolation, selection or culture method models in order to understand the limitations of various breast cancer culture methods that need to be taken into consideration when designing experiments. These methodical approaches will ensure that the most appropriate in vitro model of breast cell culture is selected, which can physiologically, as well as genetically best correlate with most tumourigenic properties of breast cancer seen ex vivo in order to derive information which can be translated into clinical benefit.