Influence of culture in SFM on survival of primary mammary carcinoma cells. Freshly isolated cells from malignant effusions were directly inoculated into 24-well plates at a cell density of 0.1 to 1 × 10⁶/mL into the indicated culture media with or without cytokines (SCF, IL-1β, IL-3, IL-6, and EPO; S136E) as indicated. Independent cultures were set up in duplicates for the individual time points. After trypsinization both adherent and nonadherent cells were subjected to immunocytochemical analysis of tumor cells as described in Materials and Methods. Results represent mean values. FCS: -MEM + 10% fetal calf serum.