Focused Ultrasound Therapy
Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with cervical tumors. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.
How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) enabling cervical tumors to be treated without surgery. While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of cervical tumors include medication and invasive surgery.
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and enhance chemotherapy dose for the target, with less impact to the rest of the patient. It can also be repeated, if necessary.
Clinical Trials
A clinical trial is underway in London, United Kingdom that is using focused ultrasound to treat pelvic cancer of many causes, including cervical cancer.
The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.
Find a Treatment Site
Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.
Notable Papers
Li L, Zhang G, Sun M, Lang J, Yu X. Application of high-intensity focused ultrasound in gynaecological diseases. Int J Hyperthermia. 2026 Dec;43(1):2635294. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2026.2635294. Epub 2026 Mar 23. PMID: 41867046
Luo J, Lin Y, Yi Q, Long Y. Efficacy of focused ultrasound for HPV clearance and cervical LSIL treatment: a meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2026 Mar 28;16(1):10747. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-45421-4. PMID: 41904252
Yang T, Lou Y, Ying Z. Nanoparticle-ultrasound synergy: an emerging theranostic paradigm for breast and gynecologic cancers. Front Oncol. 2025 Dec 4;15:1617939. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1617939. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41426324
Yang Y, Shi W, Zhang M, Gong X, Luo L, Zhou H. Cervical morphology and elasticity following treatment of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions with focused ultrasound vs. loop electrosurgical excision procedure: a prospective non-randomized controlled study. Int J Hyperthermia. 2025 Dec;42(1):2570825. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2570825. Epub 2025 Oct 13. PMID: 41081313
Tian L, Yang MT, Huang JR, Tang Y, Hu HQ, Li J. Comparative efficacy of focused ultrasound on hR-HPV clearance in premenopausal versus postmenopausal women: a retrospective cohort study. Int J Hyperthermia. 2025 Dec;42(1):2579897. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2579897. Epub 2025 Dec 11. PMID: 41381376
Niu K, Li Y, Zhao L. Effect of Focused Ultrasound With or Without Anti-HPV β-Glucan Therapy on Persistent Cervical HPV Infection: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Virol. 2025 Sep;97(9):e70588. doi: 10.1002/jmv.70588. PMID: 40916559
Zhang L, Xu C, Li M, Lu X, Sheng Y, Chen L, Shen J, Miao Y, Xiao Z, Liu N, Zhang Y, Chen Q, Wang Y. Gambogic Acid Based Coordination Polymer Reinforces High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Gynecologic Malignancies. Adv Mater. 2025 Jul;37(26):e2501664. doi: 10.1002/adma.202501664. Epub 2025 Apr 14. PMID: 40223396
Zhang M, Jiang H, Chen L, Ren J, Li C, Liu Y, Zhou H, Shi Q. Efficacy and Safety of Focused Ultrasound Treatment for High-risk Human Papillomavirus Infection-related Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia Grade 2 in Nulligravidae Women: A Retrospective Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2024 Nov 23:S0301-5629(24)00409-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2024.10.013. PMID: 39581821
Xiao L, Dong X, Sun J, Zhang X, Feng Q, Chang S. Focused ultrasound versus the loop electrosurgical excision procedure to treat women with cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions under 40: a retrospective study. BMC Cancer. 2024 Feb 3;24(1):169. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-11938-y. PMID: 38310208
Yoo SS, Katsarakes P, Gashi J, Kim E, Kim HC, Böhlke M. Non-thermal Acoustic Enhancement of Chemotherapeutic Effects of Cisplatin on Xenografted Cervical Cancer in Mice. Anticancer Res. 2023 Nov;43(11):4793-4800. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.16676. PMID: 37909989
Wang W, Zhou H, Liu Y, Ren J, Chen L. Changes in cervical cytokine profiles following focused ultrasound treatment for high-risk human papillomavirus infection-related low-grade cervical lesions. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2023 Apr 3. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.14768.
Liu Y, Wang W, Zhang M, Qu D, Du C, Chen Y, Reng J, Chen L, Liu S, Yang Y, Zhou H. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Patients With Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia 2/3: A Prospective One-Arm Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2022 Oct 22:S0301-5629(22)00580-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2022.09.020.
Click here for additional references from PubMed.