AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026340365
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REVIEW ARTICLE
Early Access

Advanced bioprinting biomaterials for personalized cancer therapy and drug screening: From functional bioinks to precision oncology platforms

Siqi Li1 Renjun Gu1 Xiyi Feng1 Pengfei Li2* Hua Bai3*
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1 School of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu , China
2 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu , China
3 School of Acupuncture and Tuina, School of Health Preservation and Rehabilitation, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu , China
Received: 21 August 2026 | Revised: 16 September 2026 | Accepted: 21 September 2026 | Published online: 22 September 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is increasingly used to construct patient-relevant tumor models, but its value for precision oncology depends on how functional biomaterials connect tissue reconstruction with therapeutic exposure and response measurement. This review presents a function-oriented framework for advanced bioprinting biomaterials in personalized cancer therapy and drug screening. We define functional biomaterials as printable or print-compatible systems that actively regulate cellular behavior, extracellular-matrix cues, transport, release, microenvironmental adaptation, or response reporting, while distinguishing them from patient-derived biological inputs and enabling technologies. We examine how bioink composition, crosslinking, mechanics, degradation, and spatial patterning influence tumor heterogeneity, stromal interactions, vascular, immune, and hypoxic niches, and therapeutic transport. Particular attention is given to localized drug delivery, nanocomposite and stimuli-responsive systems, sequential exposure, and quantitative evaluation of drug distribution and response. Two representative platforms illustrate how material design can couple microenvironment reconstruction with chemoradiotherapy, chemotherapy, and CAR-T response testing. We also assess patient-derived tumor models for personalized drug testing, including model establishment, heterogeneity preservation, assay reproducibility, and the relationship between ex vivo response and clinical decision-making. Bioink-selection principles and study-level reporting benchmarks are summarized without pooling non-equivalent metrics. Finally, we discuss sample attrition, turnaround time, cost, manufacturing variability, quality control, interlaboratory reproducibility, clinical validation, and regulatory requirements. Clinically useful platforms will be those in which each functional component addresses a defined biological or therapeutic question and generates reproducible, interpretable information, rather than those with the greatest material or architectural complexity.

Keywords
3D bioprinting
Functional biomaterials
Bioinks
Patient-derived tumor models
Tumor microenvironment
Drug screening
Personalized cancer therapy
Precision oncology
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing