The efficacy of a non-invasive treatment has been demonstrated by rats.
Scientists have been able to destroy up to 75% of the volume of a liver tumor using focused ultrasound. The rats seem to take over and clear the rest after the treatment.
The researchers said that in 80 percent of the animals, the cancer seemed to have been destroyed.
The treatment is being tested on humans with cancer.
Histotripsy is a promising option that can overcome the limitations of currently available options and provide a safe and effective method of removing tumors from the body.
We hope that our learnings from this study will motivate future investigations into histotripsy, which is used in the treatment of cancer.
The five-year survival rate for liver cancer in the US is lower than 18 percent, and histotripsy seems to offer new hope for patients with one of the deadliest forms of cancer.
The technique uses a transducer to disrupt tumors.
The method used to break down fat cells for weight-loss treatments is similar to the way it works. Tiny bubbles are created in the targeted tissue by the waves of ultrasound that are directed at the area. The tissue is disrupted when bubbles collapse or burst.
It is not often possible to target the entire tumor. Whether it is safe to use histotripsy on the entire tumor depends on how the mass is positioned, their size and stage.
The researchers found that 81 percent of the rats treated had complete regression. 100 percent of the control rats had tumors.
The University of Michigan has designed and built a transducer that delivers high-amplitude micro-second-length Ultrasonics to focus on the Tumor to break it up.
Even if we don't target the entire tumor, we can still cause the tumor to regression and reduce the risk of future metastasis.
22 lab rats were implanted with cancer. Half of the group were left as a control group, while the other 11 were treated using histotripsy.
The histotripsy targeted just 25 percent of the tumor volume in the three additional rats.
The rats were put down to determine how successful the treatment had been. The researchers looked for signs of progression.
The rats were in dire shape. All 11 showed signs of progression. The animals were euthanized after the tumours reached the maximum size allowed by ethical protocols.
The rats that were treated were much better. Nine of the 11 rats that were treated showed regression of the tumors, and all of them were free of tumors for the rest of the study.
The treatment has been shown to reduce tumor volume. The new work shows that it increases survival rates.
This study demonstrated the potential of histotripsy for successful non-invasive tumor ablation. The researchers wrote in their paper that complete local tumor regression was observed in 9 of 11 rats with no reappearance or metastasis up to the 12-week study endpoint.
The results suggest that histotripsy may not increase the risk of developing metastases. Future studies will continue to investigate the safety, efficacy, and biological effects of histotripsy.
The research has been published.
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