Cancer is a disease that has, unfortunately, touched most of us at some point in our lives. With 14 million new cases of cancer each year, it’s the most life-threatening disease in the world (Knowlton, et al., 2015). In 2015 alone, cancer took the lives of 8.8 million people (World Health Organization, 2018). Despite continuous research towards cancer cures, yearly cancer cases are expected to increase by 57% before 2035 (Knowlton, et al., 2015). With so many types of cancer, we have consistently struggled with the idea that one cure will not suffice, but what if there was one singular form of research that could aid in aggregate cancer prevention?
Currently, cancer research is based mostly on two-dimensional (2D) models (Charbe, Mccarron, and Tambuwala, 2017). While these have led to many advancements in treatment, they have not significantly benefited cancer prevention and management in clinical settings. 2D models cannot accurately recreate the abnormal tissues in which cancers reside, leading to significant experimental errors (Charbe, Mccarron, and Tambuwala, 2017). There are also differences in protein expression, drug response, cell proliferation, etc. between 2D and three-dimensional (3D) systems (Drexel’s College of Engineering, 2018). Thus, we need to produce 3D models in which we can accurately examine cancer genesis and progression in environments which mimic those of in vivo tumours (Knowlton, et al., 2015).
3D bio-printing, a branch of 3D printing in which living cells, extracellular matrix (ECM) components, and biochemical factors can be printed onto substrates, could produce this desired model (Knowlton, et al., 2015). Bio-printing allows for the creation of dynamic models of cancer tissues involving cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions as they occur inside the human body (Knowlton, et al., 2015). Unlike 2D models, 3D bio-printers can deposit multiple cell types, creating more realistic cell arrangements (Charbe, Mccarron, and Tambuwala, 2017). Advancements in bio-printing technology have allowed for the printing of biological materials with correct spatial patterning, creating biological scaffoldings of cancerous tissues and organs in which living cells and ECM components can be added to produce 3D models of cancer in the body (Charbe, Mccarron, and Tambuwala, 2017). These models are, not only, more realistic than 2D models, but they also allow for customization, as cells from different individuals may be added for more personalized research (Ventola, 2014).
3D bio-printing has been a necessity in the understanding of cancer cell morphology and migration in the body. In one research project, 3D microchips, created using 3D printers, were placed in hydrogels with the goal of mimicking the vascular structure of the human body (Huang, et al., 2014). These created capillary structures (see Figure 1) contained channels of varying widths (25µm, 45µm, and 120µm), reflecting the sizes of blood vessels in the body, in order to test the effect of channel width on the migration speed and morphology of cancerous (HeLa) and non-cancerous (10 T1/2) cells (Huang, et al., 2014). As shown in Figure 2, HeLa cells increased in size as channel width decreased, while 10 T1/2 cell size decreased. Similarly, Figure 3 shows that HeLa cells migrated the fasted in the 25µm channels, while 10 T1/2 cell migration did not vary significantly. The importance of this study was astounding as it indicated that the metastasis and aggression of cancer cells are affected by vessel size, an enormous discovery in cancer research (Huang, et al. 2014).
3D bio-printing has the potential to advance cancer research and, thus, treatment at a pace faster than ever before. The realistic models that it creates have recently, and will in the future, lead to significant discoveries. 3D bio-printing could be the single solution to cancer treatment, allowing us to hold in our hands’ replicas of cancer found inside us.
Works Cited
Charbe, N., McCarron, P.A. and Tambuwala, M.M., 2017. Three-dimensional bio-printing: A new frontier in oncology research. World Journal of Clinical Oncology, [e-journal] 8(1), pp.21–36. 10.5306/wjco.v8.i1.21.
Drexel’s College of Engineering, 2018. Drexel Professor Fights Cancer With 3D Printing. [online] Drexel University. Available at: <http://drexel.edu/research-enterprise/impact/fight-cancer-3d-printing/> [Accessed 3 Mar. 2018].
Huang, T.Q., Qu, X., Liu, J. and Chen, S., 2014. 3D printing of biomimetic microstructures for cancer cell migration. Biomedical Microdevices, [e-journal] 16(1), pp.127–132. 10.1007/s10544-013-9812-6.
Knowlton, S., Onal, S., Yu, C.H., Zhao, J.J. and Tasoglu, S., 2015. Bioprinting for cancer research. Trends in Biotechnology, [e-journal] 33(9), pp.504–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.06.007.
Ventola, C.L., 2014. Medical Applications for 3D Printing: Current and Projected Uses. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, [online] 39(10), pp.704–711. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/> [Accessed 3 Mar. 2018].
World Health Organization, 2018. Cancer: Fact Sheet. [online] World Health Organization. Available at: <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/> [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018].