Queen’s University Belfast researchers have developed a dissolvable, 3D printed patch that delivers two anti-cancer drugs directly through the skin using microneedles too fine to draw blood, offering a potentially less painful alternative to repeated topical treatments and injections for localised skin cancer.
The study, led by Professor Dimitrios A. Lamprou and first-authored by PhD student Rutuja N. Meshram, both of the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast, was published in Advanced Healthcare Materials on 24 August 2026.
One resin, one print, two drugs
The patch is built around a single-step 3D printing method that sets it apart from earlier microneedle designs. Rather than manufacturing solid microneedles first and coating them with medication afterward, the QUB team mixed both anti-cancer drugs, curcumin and 5-fluorouracil, directly into the liquid resin before printing, so the drug sits through the needle rather than on its surface. That, the researchers say, allows for higher drug loading, better penetration, and a controlled two-stage release tailored to individual patients.
The needles were engineered around real skin-cancer anatomy: built to 1.5mm, long enough to reach the epidermis and upper dermis where basal-cell and squamous-cell cancers typically sit, while stopping short of deeper blood vessels and pain receptors. In testing, the arrays achieved insertion efficiency above 95 percent without drawing blood.
Why the delivery method matters
Because curcumin is water-repellent and 5-fluorouracil is water-soluble, the two release from the dissolving matrix at different speeds: curcumin arrives in an early burst before tapering off over 48 hours, while 5-fluorouracil diffuses more steadily, with most of it gone within 24 hours. That staggered release is what lets one patch deliver a fast-acting and a longer-acting drug without either overwhelming the other.
Professor Lamprou tied the approach to what current treatment often demands of patients: “Skin cancer is a major public health concern, and current treatments often require repeated topical applications, invasive procedures, or can cause unwanted side effects.” Dissolving microneedle systems, he added, “could provide a more patient-friendly, simpler and less painful way to deliver cancer medicines,” while also cutting down on needle-stick injuries and sharps waste.
Challenges ahead
Curcumin absorbs light at the same wavelength the printer uses to cure resin, so the team had to lengthen exposure times for curcumin-loaded needles, and even then, the combined-drug patches came out slightly less precise than single-drug ones, with curcumin retention dropping from 92 percent alone to roughly 75 percent in the mix. Both drugs were also light-sensitive in storage, curcumin especially, meaning the finished patch would need light-protected, controlled storage to stay stable.
The study is also limited to lab and ex vivo testing, dissolution baths, Parafilm, and animal tissue, with no cell toxicity, irritation, or tumor-response data yet. And because drug-loaded dissolving microneedles are regulated as combination products, the researchers say early regulator engagement and validated manufacturing will be needed before human trials.
Beyond skin cancer
The team sees the approach extending past this drug pair to other delivery formats, including vaccines, where precise dosing and comfort matter similarly. Rutuja N. Meshram said: “Advanced manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing are helping reshape the future of medicine by enabling more precise drug delivery and supporting personalised, patient-friendly healthcare,” adding that the findings point toward medicines “less painful, easier to use, and more acceptable to patients than traditional injections.”
The research received support from the Joint Commissioner, Education Branch, Social Welfare in Maharashtra, India.
Closing the Gap Between Injections and Topical Treatment
QUB’s strategy fills a gap between invasive procedures and inconsistent topical treatments: by printing both drugs directly into the resin, one patch delivers two compounds on two release schedules, fewer manufacturing steps, higher drug loading, no sharps left behind.
Other teams have been working toward similar ends more recently. In 2025, the University of Maryland used nanoscale 3D printing to fix a clogging problem in microneedles used for embryo microinjection, printing hollow needle tips with side ports directly onto glass capillaries, a precision-manufacturing fix conceptually close to the exposure-time tuning QUB had to do for curcumin. In April 2025, Continuity Biosciences invested in Joseph DeSimone’s PinPrint microneedle platform, which uses a resin-curing method called iCLIP to keep microchannels precise during printing. PinPrint’s patches target vaccines and cosmetic agents rather than localized cancer treatment, but the underlying goal, replacing needles and syringes with a printed, dissolvable delivery format, is the same.
Across these projects, the common thread is print-time integration: solving drug stability and release timing at the manufacturing stage rather than after the device is built. QUB’s contribution is applying that logic to a two-drug, dual-release cancer treatment specifically.
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Featured image shows Microneedles seen under a microscope. Photo via Queen’s University Belfast.
