Cancer treatment to benefit from 3D Printing
3D printing points way to smarter cancer treatment
British researchers have used 3D printing to create replica models of cancerous parts of the body to help doctors target tumours more precisely.
The research was conducted at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust with the aim of improving molecular therapy – a prescribed radioactive drug is supposed to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue.
Preliminary tests showed that the models allowed the dose of radiation a patient has received to be calculated more accurately due to the fact tumours and organs were minutely reproduced. This will allow for subsequent radiation doses to be adjusted accordingly depending on the severity of the case.
Dr Jonathan Gear, study co-leader, said: “Our research is aiming to find new ways to fine-tune the amounts of radiation given to patients as part of their treatment. There’s no reason why in the future, treatment planning can’t incorporate 3D printing technology to help improve radiation dosing for patients.”
The models, known as ‘phantoms’ and originally hand-made by researchers, are based on scans taken during patient treatment. If the results are confirmed in larger studies, 3D printing could be used to significantly improve the accuracy of dosing during molecular radiotherapy.
“We found that the printed replicas could give us information we couldn’t get from 2D scans – you will always get more information from a 3D model than a flat image,” said Gear.
According to Dr Glenn Flux, Head of Radioisotope Physics, the study’s findings are a welcome addition to the existing uses of 3D printing in prosthetics or to inform surgery, with the potential of improving cancer treatment considerably.
“We’re really excited by this technology and the potential it has for personalising cancer treatment with highly targeted radiation,” Flux said.
eandt.theiet.org/news/2014/dec/3d-printing-cancer.cfm
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3D列印癌細胞部位 腫瘤治療更精確
（路透倫敦17日電）3D列印技術已用在製造某些醫療植入物，如今英國科學家讓3D列印技術有了新應用，依此複製人體的癌細胞部位，好讓醫師更精準治療腫瘤，是醫學利用這項快速發展科技的最新例證。
3D列印利用特殊技術逐層堆積材料，直到立體物件「列印」成型。
在醫療方面，牙醫利用3D列印技術來製造下顎、牙齒複製品以及植牙成品；骨科醫師也利用這項技術來客製化髖骨植入物；美國科學家也於去年在3D印表機協助下，成功從牛隻細胞培養出人類耳朵。
汽車與航空業者則利用這項技術製造原型，並創造出特製工具、模件與某些最終使用零件。
這項在癌症治療上的新應用，會根據患者的電腦斷層造影（CT）結果，印製腫瘤與器官「化身」，列印出的塑膠模件可用液體充填，讓專家觀察放射藥劑流動的細節。
放射藥劑給藥方式包括靜脈注射、口服或注入腹腔內。放射治療的挑戰在於，劑量必須高到足以殺死癌細胞，但又不能連帶殺死健康組織。
英國倫敦癌症研究中心（Institute of CancerResearch）學者佛魯克斯（Glenn Flux）認為，精準的模型未來有助醫師微調劑量，使得3D技術應用成為常規使用。
佛魯克斯說：「如果我們根據打入腫瘤的輻射劑量來打造個人化醫療，病人預後應該會比較好。」「我認為3D列印技術會為治療帶來很大影響。」中央社（翻譯）
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