Three-dimensional (3D) spheroids mimic important properties of tumors and may soon become a reasonable substitute for animal models and human tissue, eliminating numerous problems related to in vivo and ex vivo experiments and pre-clinical drug trials. Currently, various imaging methods including X-ray microtomography (micro-CT), exist but their spatial resolution is limited. Here, we visualized and provided a morphological analysis of spheroid cell cultures using micro-CT and compared it to that of confocal microscopy. An approach is proposed that can potentially open new diagnostic opportunities to determine the morphology of cancer cells cultured in 3D structures instead of using actual tumors.

Spheroids were formed from human melanoma cell lines WM266-4 and WM115 seeded at different cell densities using the hanging drop method. Micro-CT analysis of spheroid showed that spheroid size and shape differed depending on the cell line, initial cell number, and duration of culture.

The melanoma cell lines used in this study can successfully be cultured as 3D spheroids and used to substitute human and animal models in pre-clinical studies. The micro-CT allows for high-resolution visualization of the spheroids structure.

三维 (3D) 球体模拟肿瘤的重要特性，可能很快成为动物模型和人体组织的合理替代品，消除与体内和体外实验以及临床前药物试验相关的众多问题。目前，存在包括 X 射线显微断层扫描 (micro-CT) 在内的各种成像方法，但它们的空间分辨率有限。在这里，我们使用显微 CT 可视化并提供了球体细胞培养物的形态分析，并将其与共聚焦显微镜进行了比较。提出了一种方法，可以潜在地开辟新的诊断机会，以确定在 3D 结构中培养的癌细胞的形态，而不是使用实际肿瘤。

使用悬滴法从以不同细胞密度接种的人黑色素瘤细胞系 WM266-4 和 WM115 形成球体。球体的微 CT 分析表明，球体的大小和形状因细胞系、初始细胞数和培养持续时间而异。

本研究中使用的黑色素瘤细胞系可以成功培养为 3D 球体，并用于替代临床前研究中的人类和动物模型。微 CT 允许对球体结构进行高分辨率可视化。