Microfluidic spinning of natural origin microfibers for breast tumor postsurgical treatment

Chinese herb medicines own potential values in breast tumor postsurgical treatment because of their abundant resources and mild health regulating effect; while it is still a challenge to enhance their utilization and effectiveness in breast tumor therapy. Here, we propose novel natural origin microfibers by using microfluidic spinning technology for potential values in breast tumor postsurgical treatment. Premna microphylla (PM), a traditional herbal medicine from natural plant, was chosen as the main component of the microfibers, while curcumin (Cur) with good anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties was applied as the encapsulated drug. Due to chemical ion cross-linking in PM, natural origin microfibers could be continuously spun through microfluidics, which would be further woven into a mesh structure. The resultant mesh was endowed with excellent biocompatibility and inhibited properties on breast tumor cell proliferation. By further applied in in vivo experiments, it was demonstrated that the PM microfibers can effectively inhibit the breast tumor recurrence and metastasis after tumor resection surgery. Based on these features, we believe that the natural origin microfibers will broaden the way of postsurgical tumor treatment and play a unique role in biomedical fields.