Wilms' tumors from seven patients were dissociated by mechanical and enzymatic means; this technique resulted in single-cell suspensions for five specimens and a few aggregates for two. By dye exclusion, cell viability ranged from 56 to 100% (median, 92%). All seven preparations produced more than five colonies/2 × 105 cells plated. Forty-three colonies grown from cells of a glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase heterozygote were of the same glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase isoenzyme type as the original tumor, indicating that the assay is specific for tumor cells. We attribute the high rate of colony formation to an improved method of cell preparation (combined mechanical and enzymatic dissociation of tumors) which may be applicable to other primary human tumors assayed in the soft agar system.

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Supported by Clinical Cancer Education Grant CA23944 and Cancer Center Support (CORE) Grant CA21765 from the National Cancer Institute, Institutional Grant IN-99G from the American Cancer Society, and by ALSAC. Presented in part at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Washington, D. C., April 28, 1981 (2).

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