Objective To establish a hanging drop 3D cell culture model of human colon cancer cell (HT29) in 48-well cell culture plate,at the same time,through the comparison of several cell viability detection methods to determine the appropriate one for this cell culture way.Methods HT29 cells of 2 375,3 164,4 218,5 625,7 500 and 10 000/well were seeded in the bottom of the 48-well culture plate to form droplets.After 2 d of inversion culture,the cell spheroids were formed and incubated in medium for another 3 d.The volume of cell spheroids were measured,and the absorbance (A) values were detected through APH assay,MTT assay,MTT assay after digestion,CCK-8 assay and CCK-8 assay after digestion.The results were compared among different methods.Results After 5 d of culture,the cell spheroids were formed perfectly at the density of 2 375-10 000/well,and the volumes were in good linear with the original cell inoculation number at the density of 2 375-7 500/well.The A values of APH assay,MTT assay after digestion and CCK-8 assay after digestion increased with the increase of cell inoculation amount;But the cell ball digestion process was complex,and the cell viability was damaged.However,the A values of MTT and CCK-8 assay increased slowly.Conclusion The method of a hanging drop 3D cell culture model in 48-well culture plate combining with APH assay to detect cell viability is economical,accurate and easy to operate.