In vitro and in vivo Limiting Dilution Assay for Colorectal Cancer.

The in vitro limiting dilution assay is used to determine the colorectal cancer initiating cell (CC-IC) frequency of a CC-IC enriched suspension culture, grown in growth factor enriched serum free media. The in vivo limiting dilution assay is used to determine the colorectal cancer initiating cell frequency of a primary colorectal cancer sample or an established suspension cell line using immunocompromised murine xenograft models. In vitro and vivo limiting dilution assays (LDAs) can be used to determine the effect of a specific treatment or genetic knockdown strategy on the initiating cell frequency of a population of CC-ICs or colorectal cancer sample, respectively.