Focused Ultrasound-Induced Cavitation Sensitizes Cancer Cells to Radiation Therapy and Hyperthermia

Abstract

Focused ultrasound (FUS) has become an important non-invasive therapy for solid tumor ablation via thermal effects. The cavitation effect induced by FUS is thereby avoided but applied for lithotripsy, support drug delivery and the induction of blood vessel destruction for cancer therapy. In this study, head and neck cancer (FaDu), glioblastoma (T98G), and prostate cancer (PC-3) cells were exposed to FUS by using an in vitro FUS system followed by single-dose X-ray radiation therapy (RT) or water bath hyperthermia (HT). Sensitization effects of short FUS shots with cavitation (FUS-Cav) or without cavitation (FUS) to RT or HT (45 °C, 30 min) were evaluated. FUS-Cav significantly increases the sensitivity of cancer cells to RT and HT by reducing long-term clonogenic survival, short-term cell metabolic activity, cell invasion, and induction of sonoporation. Our results demonstrated that short FUS treatment with cavitation has good potential to sensitize cancer cells to RT and HT non-invasively.

Intravital imaging and cavitation monitoring of antivascular ultrasound in tumor microvasculature

“…AVUS has been demonstrated preclinically in a range of tissue types 33 , 34 , 32 , 35 , 36 , 29 , 37 and has potential for applications where tissue destruction is desirable, such as in selected brain regions or tumors, the latter being of interest in the present study. While AVUS has demonstrated tumor growth inhibition on its own, the most profound antitumor effects are elicited when combining with conventional approaches of chemotherapy 38 , 15 , 39 , 40 , antiangiogenic strategies 41 , 42 , 31 , immunotherapy 43 , and radiotherapy 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 .…”

Image-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound, A Novel Application for Interventional Nuclear Medicine?

“…A better understanding of ultrasound radiosensitization mechanisms is necessary, although benefits have been shown in several clinical studies. The significant radioadditive effect of FUS in prostate cancer was demonstrated in our in vitro study (49,50). It is critical to optimize the combination treatment protocols to increase the treatment efficiency in terms of the treatment sequences, interval time, thermal dose, and radiation dose.…”

Brain Delivery of Curcumin Through Low-Intensity Ultrasound-Induced Blood–Brain Barrier Opening via Lipid-PLGA Nanobubbles

“…This instantly expanded but unruptured bubble mechanically stretches the blood vessel wall in the local part of the brain tissue, which widens the tight connection of various microcirculation endothelial cells, increases the membrane pores of endothelial cells, and induces transcellular huff and puff. 47 To assay the most appropriate ultrasonic parameters, the acoustic energy parameters were optimized in this study. Our results found some fractured holes would generate on the bubble shell of Cur-NBs and bubble architecture did remain after LIFU irradiation.…”