3D Printed Patches Made with a “Miracle Tree” Could Change How Doctors Treat Colon Cancer

A team of researchers in Türkiye (formerly known as Turkey) may have found a smarter way to treat one of the deadliest cancers, using a 3D printed patch powered by a natural plant extract. This real lab experiment seeks to treat colon cancer, the world’s second deadliest cancer after lung cancer, with a more precise and potentially safer approach.

Leading this innovation is Nermin Yelmen, a physiology professor at Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, part of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa. Together with a team of researchers from Marmara University and other departments at Istanbul University, she’s leading a study that combines materials science, plant medicine, and 3D printing technology to fight cancer.

Instead of using traditional chemotherapy drugs that circulate through the entire body and cause plenty of side effects, the team hopes to use a tiny patch directly on the tumor and deliver medicine only where it’s needed.

A Tiny Patch with Big Potential

The patch itself is made of two materials: polycaprolactone (PCL), a soft and flexible plastic, and gelatin, a natural protein found in collagen. These two ingredients are mixed and 3D printed. What makes it unique is what goes inside: either a chemotherapy drug called oxaliplatin, or a plant-based extract from Moringa oleifera, also known as the “miracle tree.”

Moringa is packed with natural compounds shown to fight cancer cells. Native to parts of South Asia, Moringa is now grown across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where it’s long been used as a herbal remedy. But this is one of the first times it’s being used in a high-tech patch to attack tumors directly.

To make the patch, the team used a custom 3D printer developed by Axolotl Biosystems. Each patch is about the size of a postage stamp, built in seven layers with a specific pore pattern designed to control how the medicine is released, the researchers indicated. This setup allows them to tweak the patch’s structure to match medical needs and tumor environments.

“This research presents an innovative treatment strategy, providing controlled drug release, reduced systemic toxicity compared to systemic chemotherapy, and improved drug delivery, potentially overcoming conventional chemotherapy limitations,” stated the researchers in the published paper titled In vitro evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of Moringa oleifera and oxaliplatin in 3D printed polycaprolactone/gelatin implantable patches, which appeared in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.

Tested in the Lab, Showing Real Promise

So far, these patches have only been tested in the lab, using colon cancer cells grown in dishes. However, the results were surprising, even to the researchers. They explain that the Moringa-loaded patches worked better than the ones with oxaliplatin. It kills more cancer cells and does it in a “gentler way,” through a process called apoptosis, which is the body’s way of getting rid of damaged cells safely and without creating inflammation. In comparison, the oxaliplatin patches caused necrosis, a messier and more damaging way for cells to die.

Even better, the Moringa patches released their medicine slowly over time and “responded to the acidic environment of tumors,” meaning the more dangerous the area, the more the patch released its cancer-fighting ingredients.

The researchers also tested how well the patches held together, how quickly they broke down in the body, and how they released their contents. Overall, the results point to one thing: this could actually work in a real patient someday.

Not Yet in Patients—But Getting Closer

Right now, the research is still in the lab stage, or in vitro testing, so the patches have yet to be tested in animals and humans. But the team is hopeful.

“To ensure that the patches maintain drug efficacy over time in a clinically relevant setting, future work should include in vivo pharmacokinetic studies… These studies would assess sustained drug concentrations at the tumor site… and biodistribution of the drug in other tissues,” indicated the publication.

Colon cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, and one of the hardest to treat. Even when surgery and chemotherapy work, there’s a high chance the cancer will come back. Worse, many patients eventually stop responding to the drugs. Instead, this new patch offers something different: a way to fight the cancer right where it grows, using either a known drug or a natural compound without flooding the entire body with chemicals.

While it’s too early to say when or if this will become a standard treatment, the science behind it is strong, and the potential is big.

For now, Yelmen and her team are continuing their research, improving the design, and hoping to partner with clinical teams who can help bring their discovery from bench to bedside, so that one day patients can wear this patch made from the “miracle tree” to help them heal.