Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. This year alone, about 500,000 Americans are expected to die from the disease. 

To help advance cancer research, Dr. Wei Sun, chair professor of College of Engineering at Drexel University created a method to print living tumors using 3-D printers. 

Researchers used a mixture of cervical cancer cells and a hydrogel substance that resembles an ointment balm to print tumor models used to study its growth and response to treatment. Sun tested his tumor model against a two-dimensional sample using common anti-cancer drugs. 

The 3-D printed tumor showed more resistance to chemical treatment.

"Doctors want to be able to print tissue, to make organs on the cheap," Sun told fastcodesign. "This kind of technology is what will make that happen. In next 10 years, every lab and hospital will have a 3-D printing machine that can print living cells."

In the study, Sun also pointed out that working with two-dimensional samples comes with limitations. For example, tumors in the body have a different shape, surface area and cellular composition than samples grown in the lab. He also noted the difference between what works in animals and what works in humans.  

"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 3-D biology and disease studies," Sun said.