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RESEARCH ARTICLE

3D-Printed Degradable Anti-Tumor Scaffolds for

Controllable Drug Delivery

Yucheng Mei , Chengzu He , Chunxia Gao , Peizhi Zhu *, Guanming Lu *, Hongmian Li *
2†
1
4
1†
3
1
1 Institute of Biomedical Research and Tissue Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, PR China
2 Department of Oncology, the People’s Hospital of Binyang County, Binyang 530405, Guangxi, China
3 Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise
533000, Guangxi, China
4 Research Center of Medical Sciences, The People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangxi
Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanning 530021, China
† These authors contributed equally to this work
Abstract: In this study, porous polylactic acid/methotrexate (PLA/MTX) scaffolds were successfully fabricated by three-
dimensional (3D) printing technology as controllable drug delivery devices to suppress tumor growth. Scanning electron
microscopy and energy-dispersive spectrometer confirmed that MTX drug was successfully incorporated into the PLA
filament. 3D-printed PLA/MTX scaffolds allow sustained release of drug molecules in vitro for more than 30 days, reducing
systemic toxic side effects caused by injection or oral administration. In vitro cytotoxicity assay revealed that PLA/MTX
scaffolds have a relatively high inhibitory effect on the tumor cells (MG-63, A549, MCF-7, and 4T1) and relatively low toxic
effect on the normal MC3T3-E1 cells. Furthermore, results of in vivo experiments confirmed that PLA/MTX scaffolds highly
suppressed tumor growth and no obvious side effects on the organs. All these results suggested that 3D-printed PLA/MTX
scaffolds could be used as controllable drug delivery systems for tumor suppression.

Keywords: 3D printing; Polylactic acid; Methotrexate; Anti-tumor

*Correspondence to: Peizhi Zhu, Institute of Biomedical Research and Tissue Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002,
PR China; pzzhu@yzu.edu.cn; Guanming Lu, Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University
for Nationalities, Baise 533000, Guangxi, China; luguanming@ymcn.edu.cn; Hongmian Li, Medical Laboratory Center, People’s Hospital of
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangxi Academy of Medical Science, Nanning, Guangxi, 530021, China; lihongmian@gxmu.edu.cn
Received: July 20, 2021; Accepted: September 1, 2021; Published Online: October 1, 2021

Citation: Mei Y, He C, Gao C, et al., 2021, 3D-Printed Degradable Anti-Tumor Scaffolds for Controllable Drug Delivery. Int J Bioprint,
7(4):418. http://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v7i4.418

1. Introduction cancer diseases, such as head-and-neck tumors, breast
cancer, and lung cancer [5-8] . In spite of its wide application
The mainstream treatment strategy for tumor is to in clinical practice, the treatment with MTX through
remove the tumor tissue, supplemented by post-operative injection or oral administration is still accompanied by
chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Despite the great some disadvantages, including non-tissue selectivity, the
progress in treatment for tumor, many adverse post- need for high dose, and high toxicity. In addition, MTX is
operative side effects, including the limited distribution resistant to bone marrow suppression and gastrointestinal
of chemotherapy drugs at the target site and severe cytotoxicity.
toxicity after radiotherapy, are unavoidable [1-3] . Therefore, To avoid the shortcomings of injection and oral
developing a new drug delivery system that can overcome administration, it is necessary to design a drug delivery
these limitations has become the focus of cancer research. system to deliver MTX into the diseased area to achieve
4-Amino-10-methylfolate (methotrexate [MTX]), the optimal therapeutic effect . Various strategies have
[9]
an antitumor drug ,has been widely used to treat various been developed to control drug delivery using materials
[4]
© 2021 Mei, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is cited.
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