Clockwise from top left: Tumor (blue arrows) heated with ultrasound (red dashed line); heat map of tumor during treatment; PET scan shows nanoparticles in surviving tumor margin; bright contrast agent shows area damaged by heat. UC Davis image.
Thermal ablation with magnetic resonance–guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) is a noninvasive technique for treating fibroids and cancer. New research from UC Davis shows that combining the technique with chemotherapy can allow complete destruction of tumors in mice.
MRgFUS combines an ultrasound beam that heats and destroys tissue with a magnetic resonance imaging to guide the beam and monitor the effects of treatment. The effectiveness of the treatment can be limited by the need to spare normal tissue or critical structures on the tumor margins, as well as the need to eliminate micrometastases.
In a new paper in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Katherine W. Ferrara, distinguished professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis, and colleagues report on a strategy that can destroy an entire tumor without thermal destruction of the tumor margin. Her group demonstrated a dramatic increase in the concentration of anti-cancer chemotherapy within several types of MRgFUS thermal ablation-treated tumors.
“MRgFUS is already FDA approved for the treatment of uterine fibroids and palliation of bone metastases. We hope to expand the indication for MRgFUS by supplementing it with chemotherapy,” said first author Andrew Wong, a graduate student with the UC Davis Physician Scientist Training Program.
Ferrara’s previous research has shown that ultrasound-induced mild hyperthermia can enhance the accumulation of tiny nanoparticles carrying anti-cancer drugs, but the accumulation is dependent on the type of tumor. Her group hypothesized that combining thermal ablation and chemotherapy could improve efficacy across multiple types of tumors.
The team used a variety of techniques including combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT), magnetic resonance imaging, autoradiography, and fluorescence imaging to track nanoparticles loaded with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin in a mouse model of breast cancer.
They found that as the ultrasound damaged the tumor and induced a local immune response, nanoparticles accumulated in the tumor and the local drug concentration increased 50-fold. The high drug concentrations continued over several weeks, increasing total exposure of the tumor to the drug.
Ferrara’s research team found that the enhanced drug accumulation induced by MRgFUS resulted in improved survival and a consistent cure in their preclinical model of breast cancer, even when part of the tumor was left intact.
They also demonstrated that an effective cure could be achieved with a carefully designed protocol involving heat-activated nanoparticles, which, when gently heated by ultrasound, release their chemotherapeutic payload in the vasculature surrounding the tumor.
Read more: Guided ultrasound plus nanoparticle chemotherapy cures tumors in mice
The Latest on: MRgFUS
via Google News
The Latest on: MRgFUS
- Parkinson's: Ultrasound technology may relieve symptomson December 1, 2019 at 3:07 am
The procedure uses a technology called magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) that works by focusing sound energy beams to eradicate a small part of the thalamus in the brain. Although ...
- Minimally invasive procedure relieves tremors in Parkinson's patientson November 26, 2019 at 2:54 am
A more recently available option is magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy, an incisionless interventional radiology procedure in which focused beams of sound energy are ...
- Jaslok Hospital performs 3rd highest number of magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound treatments globallyon November 25, 2019 at 9:40 am
Jaslok Hospital has performed the 3rd highest number of Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) procedures in the world. Apart from being the first center in India, it is also the only ...
- First-in-human trial of blood–brain barrier opening in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using MR-guided focused ultrasoundon September 26, 2019 at 2:09 am
MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is an emerging technology that can accurately and transiently permeabilize the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for targeted drug delivery to the central nervous system.
- Blood-Brain Barrier Opening in Primary Brain Tumors with Non-invasive MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound: A Clinical Safety and Feasibility Studyon January 22, 2019 at 4:00 pm
In animals, MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) with intravenously injected microbubbles can temporarily and repeatedly disrupt the BBB in a targeted fashion, without open surgery. Our objective is ...
- Ultrasonic Tissue Ablation System Market Qualitative Insights, Key Enhancement, Share Forecasted To 2028on January 15, 2019 at 10:38 pm
Jan 16, 2019 (WiredRelease via COMTEX) -- Market.us add an Latest report on “Global Ultrasonic Tissue Ablation System Market By Type (High-intensity Focused Ultrasonic (HIFU) Ablators, Magnetic ...
- ELBIT IMAGING LTD. ANNOUNCES THAT THE CMS HAS UPDATED THE REIMBURSMENT CODE FOR INSIGHTEC'S MRGFUS TREATMENTSon November 12, 2018 at 4:00 pm
Effective Jan. 1, 2019, (MRgFUS in the treatment of essential tremor) will be reimbursed at USD$12,500.50 for Medicare beneficiaries (if deemed medically appropriate). MRgFUS in the treatment of pain ...
- INSIGHTEC's Exablate Neuro Named Best Medical Technology at Esteemed Prix Galien Awards 2017on October 27, 2017 at 12:27 pm
INSIGHTEC [https://www.insightec.com], the leader in MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS), has been awarded Best Medical Technology for Exablate Neuro by The Galien Foundation. Exablate Neuro is an ...
- INSIGHTEC's Exablate Neuro Named Best Medical Technology at Esteemed Prix Galien Awards 2017on October 27, 2017 at 8:45 am
HAIFA, Israel, Oct. 27, 2017 /CNW/ - INSIGHTEC, the leader in MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS), has been awarded Best Medical Technology for Exablate Neuro by The Galien Foundation. Exablate ...
- INSIGHTEC's Exablate Neuro Named Best Medical Technology at Esteemed Prix Galien Awards 2017on October 26, 2017 at 5:00 pm
INSIGHTEC, the leader in MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS), has been awarded Best Medical Technology for Exablate Neuro by The Galien Foundation. Exablate Neuro is an innovative medical technology ...
via Bing News