Histotripsy — New Ultrasound-Focused Tumor Treatment

Background: Histotripsy is a new treatment for tumors, which uses image-guided ultrasound for tumor ablation. In contrast to radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, high-intensity focused ultrasound, cryoablation, and electroporation, histotripsy is a nonthermal technique, which uses mechanical tissue destruction by focused ultrasound to produce cavitation. Objective: To provide a comprehensive summary of the current use of histotripsy to treat solid tumors. Methods: Histotripsy causes tumor cavitation by mechanically destroying the tissue with negative pressure. Adverse effects on adjacent normal tissue is minimized with this technique. This tumor cavitation produces an appearance called “magic bubbles,” which represent the destroyed cellular tissue. This destruction can stimulate immune pathways, which enables the potential effectiveness of combined immunotherapy treatments. Results: The THERESA trial used histotripsy to treat 11 liver tumors across 8 patients, with a complete more...