Cancer therapy with ultrasound: A historical review

Abstract

The 45-year history of research in cancer therapy involving ultrasound may be divided into the four periods of initiation, enthusiasm, pessimism and revival. There have been three approaches to the subject: studies have sought to measure the effects on tumors of a) ultrasound alone; b) ultrasound in combination with radiotherapy, and c) ultrasound in combination with chemotherapy. With the first approach the results have varied. In some cases, decreased growth rates or regressions of tumors have been reported; in other cases, either no effect has been observed or growth has been increased. With the second approach, for some tumors, combined treatment has produced greater effects on tumors than has x-ray alone, whereas in other tumors the addition of ultrasound has produced no change. With the third approach, enhancement of the effects of drugs has been observed in melanoma and mouse tumor cells treated with ultrasound and several anticancer drugs. The mechanism of action in most (but not all) cases has appeared to be absorption heating. The potential of ultrasound to provide local tumor control and to enhance other therapy modes has motivated the current efforts by several groups to further study and understand it actions on malignancies.

Induction of cell death in a glioblastoma line by hyperthermic therapy based on gold nanorods

“…Thus, hyperthermia for anticancer treatment could inhibit tumor cell proliferation by destroying cancer cells or making them more sensitive to the effects of conventional antitumor therapies, such as radiation or chemotherapy. 3 Various heating sources ranging from radiofrequency to microwaves, 4,5 as well as ultrasound waves, 6 have been used to produce moderate heating in a specific target region. However, the use of heating sources conventionally employed for hyperthermia is limited because of the damage they cause to surrounding healthy tissues.…”

Production of protoporphyrin IX induced by 5-aminolevulinic acid in transplanted human colon adenocarcinoma of nude mice can be increased by ultrasound

“…Ultrasound has been used clinically for many years (Kremkau, 1979). Several publications have described the use of ultrasound for enhancing transdermal permeation of drugs applied topically (Levy et al, 1989;Bommannan et al, 1992a,b).…”

“…Therefore, methods to increase the penetration of ALA are needed. Ultrasound has been used in the treatment of cancer (Kremkau, 1979). It has been reported that ultrasound irradiation increased the transdermal permeation of drugs such as inulin and mannitol in rats by 5-to 20-fold within 1 to 2 hr following ultrasound application (Levy et al, 1989;Bommannan et al, 1992a).…”

Effect of Hyperthermia on a Neurogenic Rat Cell Line (BT4A) in Vivo

“…The in vivo data for neurogenic tumours are also sparse (SUTTON 1971, KREMKAU 1979, MAGIN & JOHNSON 1979, T H U N I N G et coll. 1980, WALLEN et coll.…”