癌症仍然是社会的一个严重负担，虽然新型和更有效的治疗方法的开发步伐不断加快，但忠实模拟肿瘤微环境的测试平台却很缺乏。随着从动物模型到更复杂的体外 3D 系统的明显转变，球体成为这方面的有力选择。经过多年的发展，基于球体的模型能够更好地再现在肿瘤相关细胞外基质 (ECM) 中观察到的生物力学线索以及以细胞-细胞和细胞-ECM 方式发生的细胞相互作用。在这里，我们总结了一些驱动肿瘤发展、进展和侵袭的关键细胞相互作用，以及这些相互作用在目前该领域使用的 3D 球体模型中重现的成功程度。最后，我们推测该领域的未来进展以及这些进展如何塑造球形 3D 模型与肿瘤建模的相关性。© 2024。作者。

Cancer remains a serious burden in society and while the pace in the development of novel and more effective therapeutics is increasing, testing platforms that faithfully mimic the tumor microenvironment are lacking. With a clear shift from animal models to more complex in vitro 3D systems, spheroids emerge as strong options in this regard. Years of development have allowed spheroid-based models to better reproduce the biomechanical cues that are observed in the tumor-associated extracellular matrix (ECM) and cellular interactions that occur in both a cell-cell and cell-ECM manner. Here, we summarize some of the key cellular interactions that drive tumor development, progression and invasion, and how successfully are these interactions recapitulated in 3D spheroid models currently in use in the field. We finish by speculating on future advancements in the field and on how these can shape the relevance of spherical 3D models for tumor modelling.© 2024. The Author(s).