Technique developed at the University of Michigan provides a noninvasive alternative to surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer.
Oct. 18, 2023 – The FDA has approved a technique using sound waves against liver tumors, according to the University of Michigan, where it was developed.
The technique — called histotripsy — could be an alternative to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, which often have side effects, the university said in a press release. Linked video below.
“A human trial underway since 2021 at the U-M Rogel Cancer Center and other locations has treated patients with primary and metastatic liver tumors via histotripsy, demonstrating the technology’s ability to meet the testing’s primary effectiveness and safety targets,” the release said.
The technique uses targeted ultrasound waves to form microbubbles within a tumor, the release said. “The forces created as those bubbles form and collapse cause the mass to break apart, killing tumor cells and leaving the debris to be cleaned up by the immune system.”
Two previous studies in rats suggest that the treatment may help the body’s cells treat cancer as a threat and activate an immune response to fight tumors.
In the first study, even after destroying only 50% to 75% of the liver tumor volume by histotripsy, the rats’ immune systems were able to clear away the rest, with no evidence of recurrence or metastases in more than 80% of animals.
Earlier this year, a second study showed that histotripsy breaks down the cancer cell wall’s “cloak”—revealing proteins that the immune system can use to identify threats, known as antigens. These antigens are removed during surgery or destroyed during chemotherapy and radiation. By instead destroying a cancer cell’s outer wall, histotripsy lays bare the tumor antigens for the immune system to identify and use for targeted attacks on other cancer cells.
Patients however are not recommended to cancel their chemotherapy and radiation treatment all together as the machine has only been approved to work on cancer cells in the liver. There is also limited availability and cost for treatment starts at about $12,500 this may make prescribing such treatment to patients prohibitive.
~Michigan News (University of Michigan)
~WebMD (Jay Croft)
