HWN Suggests

How ultrasound is ushering a new era of surgery-free cancer treatment

"People think of ultrasound as imaging," says Julie Earl, a principal investigator in the biomarkers and personalised approach to cancer group at Spain's Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research who has studied the technology. But a growing body of research, she says, suggests it can also destroy tumors, subdue metastatic disease (cancers that have spread to other parts of the body) and boost the efficacy of other cancer treatments – all without putting a patient under the knife.

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 Histotripsy – hype or hope? Review of innovation and future implications

Histotripsy is a novel, ultrasound-based ablative technique that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for hepatic targets. It has several promising additional theoretical applications that need to be further investigated. Its basis as a nonthermal cavitational technology presents a unique advantage over existing thermal ablation techniques in maximizing local effects while minimizing adjacent tissue destruction.

Articles of Interest

Exploiting the mechanical effects of ultrasound for noninvasive therapy

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a highly versatile medical technology that focuses nonionizing sound wave energy at depth in the body to generate therapeutic biological effects without damage to the surrounding tissue. It can be exploited in a variety of ways to produce transient or permanent tissue changes, leveraging thermal or nonthermal mechanisms of action.

Histotripsy for liver cancer: What to know about this novel cancer treatment

Histotripsy is a new technology that was approved in 2023 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of liver tumors. It uses focused ultrasound energy to destroy tumors non-invasively — that is, without making any surgical cuts.

Histotripsy May Expand Beyond Liver Tumors, but Long-Term Data Are Still Needed

The reason that we've really started in the liver is because that is where [we have the] most of the experience with what we refer to as ablative therapy. Ablative therapy means we're not removing the tumor; we're killing the tumor with either radiation or microwave energy or radiofrequency energy, or now, ultrasound energy. The concept was: let's start somewhere where we know ablative therapy has worked before. The other great thing about the liver is, because it's a solid organ, it does tend to push other critical structures away. It's a safe target. Then, the last thing, of course, is our liver is pretty durable. We already know we can do things like this to the liver, and it will be well tolerated.

Histotripsy: the first noninvasive, non-ionizing, non-thermal ablation technique based on ultrasound

Histotripsy is the first noninvasive, non-ionizing, and non-thermal ablation technology guided by real-time imaging. Using focused ultrasound delivered from outside the body, histotripsy mechanically destroys tissue through cavitation, rendering the target into acellular debris. The material in the histotripsy ablation zone is absorbed by the body within 1–2 months, leaving a minimal remnant scar.

New method delivers life-saving drugs to the brain—using sound waves

An emerging technique harnessing ultrasound may revolutionize treatment of fatal or hard-to-cure conditions, from cancer to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

New Ultrasound Therapy Could Help Treat Alzheimer’s, Cancer

Sound waves combined with tiny bubbles in the bloodstream can push drugs into the brain and tough-to-reach tumors.

Ultrasound Can Blast Tumors Without Surgery and Is Already Approved for Some Cancer Treatments

Once known mostly for imaging, ultrasound is now being harnessed to treat a range of diseases, with promising results in cancer therapy.

Resources

Focused Ultrasound Foundation

Accelerating the development and adoption of focused ultrasound.

Histosonics

HistoSonics has developed a non-invasive, sonic beam therapy platform that uses histotripsy, which is capable of destroying targeted liver tumors at a sub-cellular level.