Abstract: Multicellular spheroid (MCS) can mimic many aspects of the in vivo physiological and pathological conditions, better reflect the in-vivo behavior of cells in tumors. So it's increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic intervention including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and combined therapy. Various spheroid co-culture approaches have been presented to study heterologous cells interaction in solid tumors. The present review briefly introduces the methodology and applications of MCS, and focuses on the recent advances during these years.

Key words: multicellular spheroid, 3-D culture, anti-tumor therapy, coculture