Focused Ultrasound Therapy
Focused ultrasound is a therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with the malignant condition of lymphoma. This study is currently happening in canine companion animals only, but the hope is that lessons learned from our canine experience will help in the development of this technology for humans. 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 a therapeutic effect that is being evaluated. The targeted tissue is treated with thermal ablation, which results in localized tissue destruction and possible immune benefits as well.
The primary options for treatment of lymphoma are very limited. For certain animals, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to current care, with potentially a better outcome.
Advantages
- Focused ultrasound is noninvasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.
- Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue.
- It can be repeated, if necessary.
Clinical Trials
At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of lymphoma.
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/.
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound treatment for lymphoma is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.
Notable Papers
Click here for additional references from PubMed.