Short-term cultivation of human mammary tumors and normal mammary glands in medium containing human colostrum milk.

A short-term cultivation of human mammary tumors and normal mammary glands was attempted in order to establish a reproducible method for their cultivation. Epithelial cells could be cultivated consistently by the use of collagenase for tissue dissociation and the addition of insulin, human colostrum milk and cholera toxin to the culture medium. Human colostrum milk seemed to be a good additive for the growth of mammary epithelial cells but not for that of fibroblastic cells.