Skip to main content
NUTRITION 2025 Main banner

Diet and Cancer (Poster Session)

(P12-028-25) Development and Evaluation of a 3D Printed Functional Foods for Special Medical Purpose: Optimization of the Serine/Glycine Free Diet.

Sunday, June 1, 2025
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM ET
Location: Poster Board E-26

    Presenting Author(s)

  • YW

    Yuhao Wei, Master

    #37 Guoxue Alley, Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, P.R.China
    West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy
    Chengdu, United States

  • YW

    Yuhao Wei, Master

    #37 Guoxue Alley, Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, P.R.China
    West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy
    Chengdu, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • XM

    Xuelei Ma

    West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, China (People's Republic)

  • XM

    Xuelei Ma

    West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, China (People's Republic)

Disclosure(s):
Yuhao Wei, Master: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: Dietary restriction of serine and glycine has been shown to enhance tumor immunotherapy efficacy by disrupting tumor metabolism and reshaping the tumor microenvironment. However, clinical implementation is often limited by patient-reported palatability issues, such as choking and nausea, as well as gastrointestinal side effects like vomiting and diarrhea. This study aimed to develop 3D-printed Serine/glycine free diet (-SG diet) to overcome these limitations, improve usability, and support clinical adoption.

Methods: We utilized 3D food printing technology to change the -SG diet nutritional powder, optimizing its texture and sensory properties for enhanced patient acceptability. Amino acid profiling was conducted pre- and post-printing to confirm the preservation of nutritional integrity and functional restriction of serine and glycine. The food safety was also evaluated using in vivo mouse models, while clinical usability was assessed through a sensory questionnaire administered to 15 patients.

Results: Amino acid profiling confirmed that 3D printing process did not alter the composition of serine and glycine-restricted formulations. In vivo safety assessment, all mouses had no observed adverse effects. Through comparing the pre- and post-printing groups, there are no obvious changes in body weight and no damage in liver and kidney functions. Clinical evaluations indicated a significant improvement in sensory acceptability, with patients reporting enhanced palatability and reduced discomfort compared to conventional formulations.

Conclusions: The 3D-printed -SG diet successfully addresses key barriers to clinical adoption by improving palatability and usability without compromising nutritional integrity. By enhancing patient adherence, this innovation provided strategies for the integration of -SG diet into clinical cancer therapies, where it has shown potential to boost immunotherapy efficacy. Future studies should investigate long-term clinical outcomes and the scalability of this approach for broader applications in precision nutrition and oncology.

Funding Sources: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.