Deployable 3D Bioprinting for Modelling Cancer with Simulated Tumor Microenvironment

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has emerged as a promising tool for constructing <i>in vitro </i>cancer models with tumor microenvironments (TME) in a rapid and reproducible manner. To realize the translational impacts of 3D bioprinting in a wider cancer research community, innovations in bioprinting workflows still required to integrate affordability, user-friendliness, and biological relevance. Here, we developed ‘Bioarm’, a simple, yet highly effective extrusion bioprinting platform, which can be folded into a carry-on pack, and rapidly deployed between facilities. Bioarm enabled TME reconstruction by printing 3D core-shell tumoroids with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) deposited as the shell. The population of CAFs showed heterogeneity in tumoroids and produced de novo synthesized extracellular matrices, demonstrating more <i>in vivo</i>-like characteristics compared to traditional 2D co-culture models. Embedding the 3D printed tumoroids in an immune cell laden collagen matrix permitted tracking of the cancer-immune interactions, and subsequent immune perturbation under immunotherapy treatments. Our deployable extrusion bioprinting workflow could significantly widen the accessibility of 3D bioprinting for replicating TME with complex multi-compartmental architectures, and for developing personalized cancer drug screening strategies.