3D PRINTING-ENABLED PERSONALIZED DRUG DELIVERY FOR BIOAVAILABILITY ENHANCEMENT OF BCS CLASS II ANTICANCER DRUGS: ADVANCES, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

The oral delivery of many anticancer drugs is significantly limited by poor aqueous solubility, resulting in inadequate dissolution and variable bioavailability. A large proportion of these agents belong to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) Class II, where dissolution is the rate-limiting step for drug absorption. Recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) printing have created new opportunities for the fabrication of patient-specific dosage forms with controlled drug release characteristics, making this technology highly relevant to personalized cancer therapy. The present study critically discusses the prospect of pharmaceutical 3D printing to increase the oral bioavailability of BCS Class II anticancer medicines via formulation design and tailored drug administration. A complete literature search was conducted in major scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and SpringerLink) for articles in the period 2015–June 2026 as well as landmark research related to pharmaceutical 3D printing and drug delivery. This review highlights the advantages, limitations and suitability of major 3D printing technologies, such as fused deposition modelling, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, semi-solid extrusion and inkjet printing, for pharmaceutical applications and poorly soluble anticancer drugs. Special focus was given to encapsulate nanotechnology-based strategies including nanoparticles, liposomes, nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, polymeric nanoparticles and solid dispersion systems to enhance drug dissolution, intestinal absorption and oral bioavailability. In addition, current regulatory considerations, quality-by-design principles, manufacturing challenges, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence in formulation optimization, dose individualization, and printability prediction are critically discussed. In summary, the convergence of cutting-edge formulation techniques with pharmaceutical 3D printing offers a promising pathway towards the development of personalized dosage forms that have the potential to improve therapeutic outcomes in the treatment of cancer. However, many challenges remain in terms of material choice, process validation, scale-up manufacturing and regulatory approval, but continuous technical development is expected to foster the future clinical translation of personalized 3D-printed anticancer therapies.