A three-dimensional cell growth containment article is described, which includes a molded body channelized by removal of sacrificial channelizing element(s) therefrom, so that the molded body contains one or more channel(s) therein, with a matrix material in at least one of such channel(s) that is supportive of three-dimensional cell growth in the matrix material. A method for making such articles is also described, in which a molded body is formed with one or more sacrificial channelizing element(s) therein, following which the sacrificial channelizing element(s) are removed. The three-dimensional cell growth containment articles of the present disclosure may be utilized in any applications in which there exists a need to reproducibly generate three-dimensional cellular structures, e.g., islet transplantation for diabetes treatment, transplantation of hormone secreting cells, cellular scaffolds for wound healing, and generation of tissue engineering structures to regain structural usefulness for orthopedic applications.