Ultrasonic Testing Gives Hope to Patients with Brain Tumors | Medical Research

Technologies that have the potential to revolutionize have been developed Treatment of brain tumors A neurodegenerative disease caused by the temporary passage of the blood-brain barrier, which is the structure that separates blood vessels in the brain from the rest of the tissue.

A study of four women with breast cancer metastases to the brain showed that magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) can safely deliver antibody therapy Herceptin to brain tissue and shrink tumors. I did.

The blood-brain barrier is a cell wall designed to prevent substances in the bloodstream, such as toxins and microbes, from entering the brain and causing irreparable damage to tissues.

In the rest of the body, there are small gaps between the cells that line the blood vessels, allowing small substances to pass through, whereas in the brain these spaces are fused. That is, only a handful of certain gases, such as water and oxygen, and other needs. Substances and small fat-soluble drugs such as antidepressants pass through.

“Many people have tried many different ways to carry things across the blood-brain barrier, but it has proven to be very difficult-certainly doing it in a temporary way is not possible. “Sure,” said Professor Eleanor Stride, a biomaterial from Oxford University that was not involved in the study.

“The range of medicines that we think are good to meet, not just for the sake of just, is very wide. [metastatic breast cancer]However, the same is true for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other types of brain tumors. “

MRgFUS uses focused ultrasound (sound waves) to vibrate the fine bubbles of contrast medium injected into a patient, opening the blood-brain barrier in a specific area. These vibrations separate cells from the blood-brain barrier, allowing substances that normally have difficulty penetrating the brain to pass through.

Dr. Nir Lipsman from Sunny Brook health The Science Center in Toronto, Canada, which led the study, said: “This is a temporary process in which the blood-brain barrier is opened within 24 hours. Anything that co-circulates in the bloodstream has access to the pathology (disease) of the brain where we want to go. The idea is that

Lipsman and his colleagues have previously shown that MRgFUS can be used to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) of different types of brain tumors or neurodegenerative diseases. However, it was not possible to transport the drug using MRgFUS.Their brain

Currently, they are using it to deliver the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) to the affected area of ​​brain tissue in four patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Research published in Scientific translation medicineShowed that the drug was taken up by the tumor and shrank accordingly, but the study was designed primarily to assess safety.

Importantly, none of the patients experienced serious adverse events, and further diagnostic imaging suggested that the blood-brain barrier was resealed after 24 hours.

Blood / brain graphics

“Although it has long been theorized that focused ultrasound can be used to enhance drug delivery, this is the first time we have shown that a drug can be taken into the brain and visualized it entering the brain. This is the first time for me, “says Lipsman. ..

“Herceptin is also a huge compound, so if possible [get it in] It is fairly safe to assume that focused ultrasound can still get other compounds as large or small into the brain. “

Kevin O’Neal, a neurosurgeon consultant at the Center of Excellence in Brain Tumor Research, Imperial College London, said: range.

“Injecting them into the brain is one way, but it’s better because it’s effectively non-invasive. You have a portal open at the destination of the blood-brain barrier. It’s like. This is a step towards opening the door to other treatments. “