Ultrasound Can Blast Tumors Without Surgery and Is Already Approved for Some Cancer Treatments
Ultrasound isn’t just for baby pictures anymore. A new wave of research is using it to fight disease by concentrating sound energy into a precise spot. Doctors can now target and destroy tissue without ever making an incision. This technique, known as focused ultrasound, is quietly steering us into a new era of surgery-free cancer treatment.
The technology has already proven effective in treating neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, even mood disorders, and scientists are rapidly expanding its use in oncology. More and more studies show how focused ultrasound can destroy tumors, beat metastases, and even make other cancer treatments, like cancer immunotherapy, work better.
Refining Ultrasound Technology To Manipulate Tissue
The exploration of ultrasounds potential started early. In 1940, scientists discovered that concentrating ultrasonic waves into a pinpoint area could heat and destroy tissue, much like focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass. While researchers saw potential for ultrasound to treat several maladies, the technique needed to be refined significantly.
To overcome tissue surrounding the target area to absorb any ultrasound, researchers began using large advanced ultrasonic probes to electronically steer and focus the sound beam combined with detailed imaging of the anatomy of the target area. With these advances, doctors could finally apply sound waves precisely where needed, explained Richard J. Price, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia in The Conservation.
Thanks to breakthroughs in imaging and acoustic physics, focused ultrasound has moved from theory to therapy. An abundance of clinical trials are now underway, exploring its potential in treating dozens of diseases ranging from rare brain disorders to cancer. Some of the most promising results involve using sound waves to help drugs reach the brain more effectively, to trigger immune responses, and to break down stubborn tumors.
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Targeting Tumors With Ultrasound
One of focused ultrasound’s most exciting roles lies in cancer immunotherapy, which trains the body’s own immune system to fight tumors. Since some cancers, like breast, pancreatic, and brain tumors, are hard to target solely with immunotherapy because they don’t provoke much immune response, adding ultrasound might change that.
By blasting tumors with precisely targeted sound waves, researchers can break them apart into smaller pieces that drain into nearby lymph nodes. There, immune cells encounter the fragments and learn to recognize and attack the cancer. In effect, ultrasound helps “teach” the immune system what to look for.
What’s Approved?
The results so far are promising. According to the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, clinical trials are testing focused ultrasound for several cancers, including melanoma and brain tumors. Outside the U.S., the method is already approved for treating breast and pancreatic cancers, and in 2023, the FDA approved a related ultrasound technique called histotripsy for liver tumors.
Ongoing trials show the approach is generally safe, with few complications. As scientists continue refining the technology, many believe we’re only scratching the surface of what focused ultrasound can do, offering us a future where treating cancer might mean no surgery, no scars, and no hospital stay at all.
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
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