3D Printing Could Improve Drug Discovery and Development

Drexel’s Wei Sun, PhD, Albert Soffa chair professor in the College of Engineering, has devised a method for 3D printing tumors that could soon be taking cancer research out of the petri dish.

Using a mixture of cervical cancer cells and a hydrogel substance that resembles an ointment balm, Sun can print out a tumor model that can be used for studying their growth and response to treatment. This living model will give cancer researchers a better look at how tumors behave and a more accurate measure of how they respond to treatment.

“This is the first time to report that one can build a 3D in vitro tumor model through 3D Printing technology,” said Sun, the director of Drexel’s research center at the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute. “This may lead to a new paradigm for cancer research and for individual cancer therapies. We have developed a technological platform and would like to work with biologists and pathologists to encourage them to use the developed platform for 3D biology and disease studies.”

Read the press release:

http://bit.ly/PM4716

Source: Drexel News