Comparison of glucose-consumption and thymidine-incorporation endpoints in histocultured human superficial bladder tumors

Glucose consumption and trtiated thymidine incorporation were monitored for 54 days in histocultured human superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, indicating that long-term histoculture of human transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder is feasible. The glucose-consumption rate was relatively similar among the histocultured specimens and depended on the size of the explant in histoculture. Tritiated thymidine incorporation, on the other hand, varied greatly between the histocultured specimens. In addition, [³H]thymidine incorporation varied in single histocultures between cells in the original explant and those invading the gel. From these results, we conclude that the glucose consumption rate in histocultured human superficial bladder tumor is more reliable and sensitive than thymidine incorporation. The glucose-consumption endpoint is simple to measure and nondestructive, allowing multiple measurements on a single culture, unlike the thymidine incorporation endpoint.