A world-first 3D bioprinting technology has been developed that can eliminate cancer cells by enhancing immune cell function.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Park Sang-jin) under the Ministry of Science and ICT, in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (President Kim Jang-seong), developed a 3D bioprinting technology using NK cell therapy as a new immunotherapy for cancer treatment, and published the related research results in the prestigious journal Biomaterials Research (IF: 11.3).

A joint research team led by Park Soo-ah, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials' Natural Inspired Applications Laboratory, and Kim Tae-don, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Life Sciences, used 3D bioprinting technology used in cancer treatment to print a hydrogel containing NK cells.

When NK cells are injected into the body alone, they float around, and during this process, a large number of them are lost without reaching cancer cells.

By entrapping NK cells in a 3D-printed hydrogel, the researchers prevent their loss and enable large numbers of them to reach cancer cells. Pores are created within the hydrogel, allowing the NK cells, while still active, to flow out after a certain period of time, enabling them to perform their cellular immune function of eliminating cancer cells.

The existing method of injecting NK cells using intravenous injection did not have good results in clinical trials for solid tumors*. This is because NK cells cannot maintain an adequate level of viability and cannot reach the tumor site.

On the other hand, by utilizing the technology developed this time, NK cells can be printed while injected into a hydrogel and cultured in a 3D environment to improve the viability and activity of NK cells and respond to cancer tissue.

Park Soo-ah, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, said, “This is a technology that can significantly improve the function of NK cells used in cancer treatment,” and added, “We expect that this new technology will greatly help in treating cancer patients.”

Meanwhile, this study was conducted with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea's 'Development of a Multi-Scale Vascular-Endowed Skin Complex Tissue Mimic for Evaluation of Intravital Nanobiosensors' project and the National Research Council of Science and Technology's Convergence Research Group project 'Development of UnTACT System for Critical Diseases' project.