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RESEARCH ARTICLE
3D-printed amino acid-restricted foods for special medical purposes to support cancer nutrition therapy
Yuhao Wei1† ,
Jiangfei Li2† ,
Yuanyuan Chen3† ,
Yu Xiang1† ,
Guangqi Li4 ,
Yi-Ping Ho5* ,
Xiaosheng Zhang3* ,
Juan Huang6* ,
Yi Zhang3* ,
Xuelei Ma1*
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1 Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan,
China
2 Department of Food Nutrition and Health, School of Medicine and Health, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang,
China
3 Intelligent Micro/Nano Circuits and Microsystems Integration Laboratory, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan,
China
4 Department of Radiation Oncology, Precision Radiation in Oncology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan,
China
5 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR,
China
6 Department of Hematology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan,
China
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
IJB, 026060048 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJB026060048
Received: 4 February 2026 | Accepted: 3 March 2026 | Published online: 10 April 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s).. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract
Serine/glycine-free (−SG) diets are recognized for boosting tumor immunotherapy efficacy by remodeling the tumor microenvironment, yet their clinical translation is hindered by aspiration risks and poor patient compliance associated with traditional liquid formulations. To address these challenges, this study leveraged 3D printing to transform −SG nutritional powder into a clinically viable semi-solid formulation. A functional food ink was developed by stabilizing −SG powder in a hydrocolloid matrix formed via electrostatic complexation between cationic chitosan and anionic xanthan gum. Formulation was optimized using response surface design of experiment methodology to maximize printability, with metabolic efficacy and biological safety validated in BALB/c mice, and clinical usability assessed in 20 cancer patients via sensory and direct swallowing tests. Rheological characterization confirmed that the polyelectrolyte network endowed the ink with ideal pseudoplasticity and yield stress—critical for extrusion-based 3D printing. The optimized formulation (1.25% chitosan, 1.25‰ xanthan gum) exhibited exceptional shape fidelity. In vivo studies showed the 3D-printed food for special medical purposes maintained serum serine/glycine depletion without systemic toxicity, supported by stable mouse body weight and normal liver/kidney function. Clinically, the 3D-printed semi-solid formulation significantly enhanced patient compliance, elevating sensory acceptability scores from “like slightly” to “like very much” (32.0 vs. 27.6, p < 0.0001). This study presents a novel application of 3D printing to fabricate texture-modified food for special medical purposes, effectively mitigating aspiration risks associated with traditional liquid amino acid-restricted diets.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
3D food printing
Food for special medical purposes
Tumor metabolism
Polyelectrolyte complex
Personalized nutrition
Funding
The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other financial support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.
Conflict of interest
Yi Zhang serves as the Editorial Board Member of the journal, but did not in any way involve in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Other authors declare they have no competing interests.
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