Biomarkers are vital in healthcare as they provide valuable insights into disease diagnosis, prognosis, treatment response, and personalized medicine. They serve as objective indicators, enabling early detection and intervention, leading to improved patient outcomes and reduced costs. Biomarkers also guide treatment decisions by predicting disease outcomes and facilitating individualized treatment plans. They play a role in monitoring disease progression, adjusting treatments, and detecting early signs of recurrence. Furthermore, biomarkers enhance drug development and clinical trials by identifying suitable patients and accelerating the approval process. In this review paper, we described a variety of biomarkers applicable for cancer detection and diagnosis, such as imaging-based diagnosis (CT, SPECT, MRI, and PET), blood-based biomarkers (proteins, genes, mRNA, and peptides), cell imaging-based diagnosis (needle biopsy and CTC), tissue imaging-based diagnosis (IHC), and genetic-based biomarkers (RNAseq, scRNAseq, and spatial transcriptomics).

Integrating new technologies and reagents could improve lateral flow assays' (LFAs) sensitivity and accuracy while minimizing the complexity and potential for false positives.

Immobilization using external or internal splints is a standard and effective procedure to treat minor skeletal fractures. In the case of major skeletal defects caused by extreme trauma, infectious diseases or tumors, the surgical implantation of a bone graft from external sources is required for a complete cure. Practical disadvantages, such as the risk of immune rejection and infection at the implant site, are high in xenografts and allografts. Currently, an autograft from the iliac crest of a patient is considered the “gold standard” method for treating large-scale skeletal defects. However, this method is not an ideal solution due to its limited availability and significant reports of morbidity in the harvest site (30%) as well as the implanted site (5–35%). Tissue-engineered bone grafts aim to create a mechanically strong, biologically viable and degradable bone graft by combining a three-dimensional porous scaffold with osteoblast or progenitor cells. The materials used for such tissue-engineered bone grafts can be broadly divided into ceramic materials (calcium phosphates) and biocompatible/bioactive synthetic polymers. This review summarizes the types of materials used to make scaffolds for cryo-preservable tissue-engineered bone grafts as well as the distinct methods adopted to create the scaffolds, including traditional scaffold fabrication methods (solvent-casting, gas-foaming, electrospinning, thermally induced phase separation) and more recent fabrication methods (fused deposition molding, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, Inkjet 3D printing, laser-assisted bioprinting and 3D bioprinting). This is followed by a short summation of the current osteochondrogenic models along with the required scaffold mechanical properties for in vivo applications. We then present a few results of the effects of freezing and thawing on the structural and mechanical integrity of PLLA scaffolds prepared by the thermally induced phase separation method and conclude this review article by summarizing the current regulatory requirements for tissue-engineered products.

The development of biocompatible hydrogels for 3D bioprinting is essential for creating functional tissue models and advancing preclinical drug testing. This study investigates the formulation, printability, mechanical properties, and biocompatibility of a novel Alg-Gel hydrogel blend (alginate and gelatin) for use in extrusion-based 3D bioprinting. A range of hydrogel compositions were evaluated for their rheological behavior, including shear-thinning properties, storage modulus, and compressive modulus, which are crucial for maintaining structural integrity during printing and supporting cell viability. The printability assessment of the 7% alginate–8% gelatin hydrogel demonstrated that the 27T tapered needle achieved the highest normalized Printability Index (POI_normalized = 1), offering the narrowest strand width (0.56 ± 0.02 mm) and the highest printing accuracy (97.2%) at the lowest printing pressure (30 psi). In contrast, the 30R needle, with the smallest inner diameter (0.152 mm) and highest printing pressure (80 psi), resulted in the widest strand width (0.70 ± 0.01 mm) and the lowest accuracy (88.8%), resulting in a POI_normalized of 0.274. The 30T and 27R needles demonstrated moderate performance, with POI_normalized values of 0.758 and 0.558, respectively. The optimized 7% alginate and 8% gelatin blend demonstrated favorable printability, mechanical strength, and cell compatibility with MDA-MB-213 breast cancer cells, exhibiting high cell proliferation rates and minimal cytotoxicity over a 2-week culture period. This formulation offers a balanced approach, providing sufficient viscosity for precision printing while minimizing shear stress to preserve cell health. This work lays the groundwork for future advancements in bioprinted cancer models, contributing to the development of more effective tools for drug screening and personalized medicine.