Richard Price, PhD
Richard Price, PhD, co-director of UVA Health’s Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center and professor of biomedical engineering, spoke with the BBC about using focused ultrasound to potentially treat cancer.
Ultrasound has long helped doctors visualize the inside of the body, but focused high-frequency sound waves are now opening new possibilities for targeting cancer. A growing body of research indicates these sound waves may also destroy tumors, suppress metastatic disease, and enhance the effectiveness of other treatments—all without the need for surgery.
For example, research suggests that injecting microbubbles into the bloodstream and activating them with ultrasound can temporarily open the blood-brain barrier. Normally this barrier blocks toxins from entering the brain but opening it during treatment could let drugs reach the tumors they’re designed to attack. “The non-invasive part is awesome, but the [drug-delivery component] is really unmatched anywhere,” Dr. Price says.
Read the full article at the BBC.
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