Advantages and research progress of three-dimensional culture systems for lung cancer drug screening (Review).

Conventional two-dimensional cell cultures predominantly grow as monolayers, lacking the complex spatial architecture of in vivo tumors. However, three-dimensional (3D) tumor culture systems can overcome these limitations by reconstituting cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, thereby recapitulating the essential hallmarks of solid tumors, including spatial gradients of oxygen, growth factors and metabolites. 3D tumor models are essential preclinical tools in lung cancer research, providing valuable resources for studying cancer biology and developing novel anticancer drugs. The present review examines different 3D culture methods, highlighting the benefits and applications of multicellular tumor spheroids and organoid models in the screening process for anti-lung cancer drugs. The present review aims to provide a novel perspective on tumor biology and in vitro drug screening, and a theoretical basis for developing and applying 3D culture models.