---
title: "Rice University uses 3D printing to model metastatic cancer cell clusters"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/rice-university-uses-3d-printing-to-model-metastatic-cancer-cell-clusters/
date: 2026-03-27
modified: 2026-03-27
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Rice University bioengineers have developed a platform that generates large quantities of cancer cell clusters that accurately replicate the conditions cells encounter while traveling through the bloodstream, in an attempt..."
categories:
  - "Medical AM"
  - "Medical Research"
  - "Research & Education"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Rice-University-ATLAS-01-640x400.jpg
word_count: 407
---

# Rice University uses 3D printing to model metastatic cancer cell clusters

[Rice University](https://www.voxelmatters.com/rice-university-researchers-customize-engineered-living-materials/) bioengineers have developed a platform that generates large quantities of cancer cell clusters that accurately replicate the conditions cells encounter while traveling through the bloodstream, in an attempt to tackle one of the major challenges in metastasis research.

The approach, named Advanced Tumor Landscape Analysis System (ATLAS), has been developed in the lab of Michael King, Rice's E.D. Butcher Professor of Bioengineering, and it builds on earlier research using [superhydrophobic surfaces](https://www.voxelmatters.com/amphibio-3d-printed-hydrophobic-gills/) — materials that strongly repel water — to encourage cells to cluster into three-dimensional formations.

ATLAS uses [3D printed microwell arrays](https://www.voxelmatters.com/nanoscribe-and-cellink-join-forces-to-release-the-quantum-x-bio/) that are treated to create a nanoscale water-repelling effect, similar to that found on a lotus leaf.

![Rice University uses 3D printing to model metastatic cancer cell clusters](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Rice-University-ATLAS-02-340x340.jpg)Image: Rice University

“Metastasis is still poorly understood because adequate laboratory techniques to recreate this complex process are lacking,” stated King, a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar.

In comparison to earlier methods, ATLAS requires less time and costs less to produce. Alexandria Carter, a doctoral student in the King lab and first author on the study, [published in the journal ](https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adhm.202600011)[*Advanced Healthcare Materials*](https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adhm.202600011), described the manufacturing approach as a first for the field.

“The way this is achieved, both in nature and in the laboratory, is to create a surface that is rough on a nanoscale level, and then to coat the nanoscale bumps with a nonwetting substance such as Teflon or wax,” Carter explained.

“Here, we achieved this for the first time through 3D printing, which means the method is scalable and easily adoptable by other labs.”

The team used ATLAS to generate clusters of prostate cancer cells, including some containing cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which are commonly found in the tumor microenvironment. 

Testing showed cancer clusters were more likely to survive circulation when traveling in groups, particularly when CAFs were present, as those support cells helped cancer cells withstand the stresses of blood flow and continue growing.

“One of the most exciting elements of our paper is that it does not just report on a new experimental method for other researchers to use, but it also reports new fundamental biological results,” Carter said. “Perhaps in the future the next generation of prostate cancer drugs will target these CAF 'escorts' as a way to prevent metastasis.”

“ATLAS makes it easier to study one of the most dangerous aspects of cancer,” added King.

ATLAS is reportedly being worked on for commercialization via a startup currently under development by Carter, named Bionostic.