Researchers Are Examining Ways to Use Histotripsy to Stimulate the Immune System Against Cancer
Histotripsy can help release HER2 from cancer tumor cells.
By Kelly Malcom, Michigan Medicine
The researchers behind the development of histotripsy are actively investigating its use with other types of tumors including breast cancer.
Invented and developed over two decades at the University of Michigan, histotripsy is a revolutionary alternative to surgery that can treat cancer and other diseases without invasive procedures, and with few side effects, by using ultrasound pulses to break down target tissues into debris the body can reabsorb.
A recent study in the journal Cancers demonstrates how histotripsy could stimulate the immune system to destroy a cancer through the release of tumor antigens.
Histotripsy can trigger the “abscopal effect,” wherein the ablation of tumors in one area leads to an immune response that shrink tumors in other sites of the body.
The researchers hypothesized that this effect is caused by the activation of the immune system against cancer-related proteins that are released from tumor cells by sonic disruption.
They tested this using a mouse model of breast cancer where one tumor was disrupted with histotripsy.
They found that treated cancers released a protein called HER2, a well-known tumor antigen found in some breast cancers.
Importantly, the higher the histotripsy dose, the more HER2 released from the tumor cells.
This supports the use of histotripsy immunotherapy against HER2 positive cancers.
Authors: Shengzhuang Tang, Reliza McGinnis, Zhengyi Cao, James R. Baker, Jr., Zhen Xu and Suhe Wang
Paper cited: “Ultrasound-Guided Histotripsy Triggers the Release of Tumor-Associated Antigens from Breast Cancers,” Cancers. DOI: 10.3390/cancers17020183
Disclosure: U-M retains a financial interest in HistoSonics, as do a number of researchers who were involved in this project and who helped develop the technology licensed to HistoSonics, including Xu, who is a company founder, stockholder and consultant. Each stands to benefit financially from the success of the platform. The company was formed with support from Innovation Partnerships, U-M’s central hub for research commercialization.