Ultrasound Therapy Helps Immune System Target Deadly Brain Cancer: NIH-Funded Study

Ultrasound Therapy Helps Immune System Target Deadly Brain Cancer: NIH-Funded Study
Magnetic resonance image of a glioblastoma. (ShutterStock)
|Updated:
0:00

Scientists at Northwestern Medicine have achieved a major advancement by using ultrasound technology to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and deliver chemotherapy and immunotherapies to treat glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer.

In testing on glioblastoma patients and animal models, the treatment boosted the immune system’s recognition of cancer cells, potentially leading to a new therapeutic approach for this disease that afflicts 12,000 Americans annually.

Ultrasound Device Opens Blood-Brain Barrier for Treatment

Glioblastoma treatment has been limited by the blood-brain barrier’s role in blocking drugs from reaching the brain. However, the researchers believe ultrasound can overcome this obstacle.
A.C. Dahnke
A.C. Dahnke
Author
A.C. Dahnke is a freelance writer and editor residing in California. She has covered community journalism and health care news for nearly a decade, winning a California Newspaper Publishers Award for her work.