Advances in 3D-Printed Surface-Modified Ca-Si Bioceramic Structures and Their Potential for Bone Tumor Therapy

Abstract

Bioceramics such as calcium silicate (Ca-Si), have gained a lot of interest in the biomedical field due to their strength, osteogenesis capability, mechanical stability, and biocompatibility. As such, these materials are excellent candidates to promote bone and tissue regeneration along with treating bone cancer. Bioceramic scaffolds, functionalized with appropriate materials, can achieve desirable photothermal effects, opening up a bifunctional approach to osteosarcoma treatments—simultaneously killing cancerous cells while expediting healthy bone tissue regeneration. At the same time, they can also be used as vehicles and cargo structures to deliver anticancer drugs and molecules in a targeted manner to tumorous tissue. However, the traditional synthesis routes for these bioceramic scaffolds limit the macro-, micro-, and nanostructures necessary for maximal benefits for photothermal therapy and drug delivery. Therefore, a different approach to formulate bioceramic scaffolds has emerged in the form of 3D printing, which offers a sustainable, highly reproducible, and scalable method for the production of valuable biomedical materials. Here, calcium silicate (Ca-Si) is reviewed as a novel 3D printing base material, functionalized with highly photothermal materials for osteosarcoma therapy and drug delivery platforms. Consequently, this review aims to detail advances made towards functionalizing 3D-printed Ca-Si and similar bioceramic scaffold structures as well as their resulting applications for various aspects of tumor therapy, with a focus on the external surface and internal dispersion functionalization of the scaffolds.

Multifunctional inorganic biomaterials: New weapons targeting osteosarcoma

“…Meanwhile, bio-ceramic-based composites have important roles in anticancer drug delivery systems, including the treatment of osteosarcoma ( Liu Y. et al, 2021 ; Oliveira et al, 2021 ). For, example, a 3D-printed calcium silicate material, after high photothermal functionalization, has the functions of anti-osteosarcoma, promoting bone regeneration and drug loading ( Truong et al, 2021 ). On this basis, He et al designed a 3D printed polymeric polycaprolactone fibers coated with porous calcium carbonate structures (PCL/CaCO3) scaffold and surface-modified it with 2D inorganic Egyptian blue nanosheets (CaPCu) ( He et al, 2021 ).…”

Trends of calcium silicate biomaterials in medical research and applications: A bibliometric analysis from 1990 to 2020

“…CS composites were also utilized to manage infections and bleeding (Hou et al, 2017). Besides, CS served as the foundation for 3D printing, which has excellent photothermal and drug transport properties that were applied to the treatment of osteosarcoma (Truong et al, 2021). In summary, with the development of CS functions, the research interest in medical applications has increased dramatically.…”