ultrasound technology is opening a new era in cancer treatment, providing less non-surgical and invasive methods. Histotripsy technique (a method invented by Professor Zhen Xu - a scientist at the University of Michigan in the US) uses high- frequency ultrasounds to create micro-bubbles (microbubbles), which mechanistically destroy liver tumors and other cancer tissue.
This method has been approved by the US FDA and UK for liver cancer, outstanding for its non-toxic nature and allowing patients to go home during the day.
In addition, ultrasound is also used in HIFU (high-intensity convergence ultrasound) technique to "bike" tumors with heat (mainly in the treatment of prostate cancer). In particular, scientists are studying the combination of ultrasound with other treatments to increase effectiveness.
Supersonic combined with micro-bubbles temporarily opens the blood brain barrier to deliver medicine to the brain tumor, while enhancing the effectiveness of radiotherapy, allowing the use of lower doses of medicine. Not only that, combining immunotherapy is expected to help the immune system detect and attack metastatic cancer cells by damaging tumors, dragging them out of hiding.
Although it still needs more long-term data, ultrasound technology is considered an important step forward, promising to reduce the devastation of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer patients, bringing hope for reducing pain and side effects for patients.
