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.

Focused ultrasound is a therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with the many types of malignant sarcomas. There are two large groups of sarcomas: osteosarcoma and soft tissue.  

Osteosarcoma (also called bone sarcoma) develops in the bones or cartilage. There are many different types of sarcomas, but common ones include: osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma.  

Soft tissue sarcomas develop in the muscle, fat, nerves, blood vessels or connective tissue. Common soft tissue sarcomas are angiosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.  

This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging the surrounding normal tissue.  

How it Works 

Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One is the use of thermal ablation, in which the energy does not harm the local tissue, but at the point of ultrasound beam convergence, the target gets very hot and leads to localized tissue destruction. Another technique uses mechanical histotripsy in a non-thermal way to disrupt and lead to a slurry of cellular debris from the targeted tissue. There are several other ways that focused ultrasound can be configured to deliver treatment for this disease.   

The primary options for treatment of sarcoma often includes medication and invasive surgery, and at times, amputation.  

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.   

Advantages 

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, 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 

There is a clinical trial for those with undifferentiated, pleomorphic sarcoma in California.  

There is a clinical trial for those with a wide variety of soft tissue sarcomas (including all of these: malignant fibrous histiocytoma, undifferentiated (pleomorphic) sarcoma, fibrosarcoma and fibromyxoid sarcoma (fibroblastic sarcomas), leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, retroperitoneal sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and synovial sarcoma).  

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement  

Focused ultrasound treatment for sarcoma is not approved by regulatory bodies and is not likely to be covered by medical insurance companies.  

Notable Papers 

Vickers ER, Ruger LN, Hay AN, Luong NTC, Kett JS, Kooi SV, Coutermarsh-Ott SL, Daniel GB, Ziemlewicz TJ, Soliman SB, Malhotra GB, Maxwell AD, Vlaisavljevich E, Tuohy J. The first limb-sparing use of histotripsy for canine osteosarcoma. Sci Rep. 2026 Mar 23. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-42319-z. PMID: 41872305 

Xu J, Chen Y, Wang Z, Fan Q, Sun Y, Qu X, Zhuang Y, Cui W, Ou Y. Ultrasound-responsive bone-targeting liposomes suppress osteosarcoma through enhanced ROS generation and immunogenic cell death. J Control Release. 2026 Feb 22;393:114746. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2026.114746. PMID: 41734864 

Qian J, Wu W, Wang H, Shu C, Liu B. Ultrasound-Enhanced Delivery of the Quercetin Derivative ANL3 Activates the FOXO1A-NDRG2-SOD2 Axis to Induce Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Osteosarcoma. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2026 Feb 5:10849785251406063. doi: 10.1177/10849785251406063. PMID: 41642032 

Achari PF, Vickers E, Ruger L, Vlaisavljevich E, Tuohy J, Collins CJ. Assessment of histotripsy as a bone-sparing tumor ablation technique in ex vivo osteosarcoma tumor-affected limbs. Front Vet Sci. 2026 Jan 9;12:1652469. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1652469. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41585516 

Vickers ER, Ruger LN, Coutermarsh-Ott SL, Daniel GB, Allen SP, Ziemlewicz TJ, Soliman SB, Malhotra GB, Maxwell AD, Vlaisavljevich E, Tuohy J. MRI for the Assessment of Histotripsy Ablation in a Canine Osteosarcoma Comparative Oncology Model. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2026 Jan;52(1):216-226. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.09.017. Epub 2025 Oct 17. PMID: 41109828 

Ponomarchuk E, Tsysar S, Kvashennikova A, Pestova P, Papikyan L, Kadrev A, Danilova N, Malkov P, Chernyaev A, Buravkov S, Khokhlova V. Non-thermal ultrasound-guided fractionation of human leiomyosarcoma with boiling histotripsy: an ex vivo feasibility study. Ultrasonics. 2025 Oct 22;159:107876. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107876. PMID: 41135484 

Filippou A, Evripidou N, Spanoudes K, Damianou C. Veterinary pilot study on focused ultrasound treatment of spontaneous canine and feline tumours: technical and feasibility assessment. J Ultrasound. 2025 Sep 22. doi: 10.1007/s40477-025-01085-w. PMID: 40983784 

Rehman S, McCarthy C, Chetan M, Li YL, Gillies M, Cosker T, Wu F, Lyon PC. Imaging and intervention for soft tissue tumours in the era of locoregional therapies and immunotherapy. Clin Radiol. 2025 Aug;87:106969. doi: 10.1016/j.crad.2025.106969. Epub 2025 May 24. PMID: 40533275 

Ong ES, Wehrle CJ, Alassas MM. Distant Tumor Response in the Pelvis After Histotripsy of a Metastatic Sarcoma of the Liver in a Patient With Differentiated Liposarcoma. Am Surg. 2025 Aug 28:31348251371287. doi: 10.1177/00031348251371287. PMID: 40873348 

Kuchimanchi N, Sul N, Gajula S, Mercante M, Tocco E, Mayhew MM, Dengel LT, Cavalcante L, Hadley L, Witt RG. Focused Ultrasound for Sarcomas: A Narrative Review. Curr Oncol. 2025 Aug 12;32(8):452. doi: 10.3390/curroncol32080452. PMID: 40862821 

Chetan M, Gillies M, Rehman S, McCarthy C, Cosker T, Wu F, Lyon PC. High-intensity focused ultrasound treatment of unresectable soft tissue sarcoma and desmoid tumours – a systematic review. Clin Radiol. 2025 Aug;87:106977. doi: 10.1016/j.crad.2025.106977. Epub 2025 Jun 2. PMID: 40570819  

Laganà AS, Romano A, Vanhie A, Bafort C, Götte M, Aaltonen LA, Mas A, De Bruyn C, Van den Bosch T, Coosemans A, Guerriero S, Haimovich S, Tanos V, Bongers M, Barra F, Al-Hendy A, Chiantera V, Leone Roberti Maggiore U. Management of Uterine Fibroids and Sarcomas: The Palermo Position Paper. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2024;89(2):73-86. doi: 10.1159/000537730. Epub 2024 Feb 21. PMID: 38382486  

Zhu YQ, Zhao GC, Zheng CX, Yuan L, Yuan GB. Managing spindle cell sarcoma with surgery and high-intensity focused ultrasound: A case report. World J Clin Cases. 2023 Sep 26;11(27):6551-6557. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i27.6551. PMID: 37900255 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.  

Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with basal cell carcinoma. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces thermal ablation (burning of the target) that has been approved by the European CE regulators, and are now approved for use of this device.

The recent work by Toosonix (https://toosonix.com/) involves the use of a transducer device that is specifically designed to treat close to the skin, as it can be done with very low risk of having skin burns. This device has resulted in the recent CE Mark approval in Europe, so the Toosonix device is now covered for this and a variety of other medical and cosmetic indications.  

The primary options for treatment of basal cell carcinoma include medication and invasive surgery. For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a non-invasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.  

Advantages

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, 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

There is a clinical trial in Poland treating patients with basal cell carcinoma.  

There is a multi-site clinical trial in Denmark, treating basal cell carcinoma.

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 & Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for basal cell carcinoma is covered under the European CE Mark, so it may be covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Kim J, Kim J, Lee DK, Shin EJ, Chang JH. High-Intensity focused ultrasound linear array and system for dermatology treatment. Ultrasonics. 2024 Sep 19;145:107477. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2024.107477. PMID: 39332247 

Calik J, Sauer N, Woźniak B, Wojnar A, Pietkiewicz P, Dzięgiel P. Pilot Study on High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) for Basal Cell Carcinoma: Effectiveness and Safety. J Clin Med. 2024 Jun 1;13(11):3277. doi: 10.3390/jcm13113277. PMID: 38892988  

Serup J, Bove T, Zawada T, Jessen A, Poli M. High-frequency (20 MHz) high-intensity focused ultrasound: New Treatment of actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma, and Kaposi sarcoma. An open-label exploratory study. Skin Res Technol. 2020 Nov;26(6):824-831. doi: 10.1111/srt.12883. Epub 2020 Jun 17. PMID: 32557832 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.   

Focused ultrasound is a therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with the pre-malignant disease of actinic keratosis. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces thermal ablation (burning) of the target tissue. 

The primary options for treatment of actinic keratosis include cryotherapy (freezing the effected tissue) or more invasive surgery. For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as like surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and it can be repeated, if necessary.

The recent work by Toosonix involves the use of a transducer device that is specifically designed to treat close to the skin, as it can be done with very low risk of having skin burns. This device has resulted in the recent CE Mark approval in Europe, so the Toosonix device is now covered for this and a variety of other medical and cosmetic indications.  

Advantages 

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, 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 actinic keratosis.

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.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for actinic keratosis is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Seyed Jafari SM, Cazzaniga S, Bossart S, Feldmeyer L, Pelloni L, van Rhyn M, Angermeier S, Adatto M, Hunger RE, Heidemeyer K. Efficacy Assessment of the High-Frequency High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound as a New Treatment for Actinic Keratosis. Dermatology. 2022;238(4):662-667. doi: 10.1159/000520536. Epub 2021 Dec 21.

Serup J, Bove T, Zawada T, Jessen A, Poli M. High-frequency (20 MHz) high-intensity focused ultrasound: New Treatment of actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma, and Kaposi sarcoma. An open-label exploratory study. Skin Res Technol. 2020 Nov;26(6):824-831. doi: 10.1111/srt.12883. Epub 2020 Jun 17.

Click here for additional references from PubMed. 

Overview

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive therapy that is transforming the treatment and quality of life for patients with glioblastoma. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, the ultrasound produces a variety of therapeutic effects enabling treatment without incisions or radiation. Several different approaches are currently in consideration for glioblastoma, and these will be briefly discussed.

Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption
The BBB is normally a protective barrier for the brain, preventing adverse agents that may be in the blood stream from gaining unfettered access to the brain. However, in the setting of glioblastoma, the BBB may still be intact, especially around the peripheral regions of the tumor, and preventing therapeutic agents (like chemotherapy) from accessing this area in sufficient quantities for maximal effect. The temporary disruption of the BBB in the targeted area enables enhanced penetration by the therapeutic agent, and following the treatment, the BBB will re-form, typically in about a day.

Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT)
Certain agents that were originally used as visual dyes to help surgeons differentiate between tumor and normal tissue, have been found to be altered after treatment by focused ultrasound, resulting in materials that are toxic to the tumor in the local area. These agents are also accumulated in tumor cells, which maximizes the detrimental effect on the targeted tissue. Clinical trials are using this technique are to provide targeted therapy to certain tumors, including glioblastomas.

Combination with Radiation
The combination of focused ultrasound and radiation has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of radiation. The joint use of these regimens is being used in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

Ablation
Thermal ablation is one of the earliest mechanisms of action for focused ultrasound, and it is currently in use for other neurologic indications. While it was in use in some earlier clinical trials for glioblastoma, the recent efforts have shifted to the above mechanisms.

Sono-Sensitive Agents
The use of sound sensitive, ultrasound packages that can carry a variety of therapeutic agents throughout the body, and only release them when they encounter focused ultrasound is a very attractive model for treating a wide variety of diseases, including glioblastoma. This mechanism is being studied in body cancers and preclinical brain lesions currently, and it is likely to be used in clinical trials soon.

Benefits

Currently, there is no cure for glioblastoma, and treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. These treatments have limited efficacy and are associated with significant side effects. Focused ultrasound has the potential to offer an alternative or complement to the above therapies.

Advantages:

• Noninvasive – no incisions, no risk of infection or bleeding, less pain, and rapid recovery
• Image-guided – precision targeting with minimal damage to surrounding tissue
• Safe, temporary, and repetitive opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) – enhancing the delivery of therapeutics directly to the brain target site
• No ionizing radiation – fewer side effects and can be safely repeated
• Targeted delivery of drugs and other therapeutic agents – increasing effectiveness and decreasing toxicity
• Initiation of an anti-tumor immune response – destruction of tumor cells leads to exposure of tumor antigens which can then be recognized and targeted by the body’s immune system

Regulatory Authorizations

Focused ultrasound is not approved by any regulatory bodies worldwide as a treatment for brain tumors, nor is the treatment reimbursed by medical insurance providers.

Clinical Trials

The following clinical trials are recruiting patients with brain tumors for focused ultrasound treatment:

Study of Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Combination With Immunotherapy in Newly Diagnosed Unmethylated Glioblastoma (BATs FUS) 
This study is using Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound in wild type glioblastoma with T cells armed with bispecific antibodies.  

Adjuvant Temozolomide ± 5-Aminolevulinic Acid + Low Intensity Diffuse Ultrasound Sonodynamic Therapy System for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma 
This study in the US is using low intensity sonodynamic therapy coupled with temozolomide in patients that have newly diagnosed glioblastoma after completion of radiotherapy. 

Extracellular Impact of Ultrasound-induced Blood-brain Barrier Disruption  
This study of BBBD is looking at the impact of the treatment on other therapeutic and pharmacodynamic substances that may also be in the area when this is accomplished.    

A Prospective Pivotal Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Avastin® Bevacizumab (BEV) With or Without Microbubble-mediated Focused Ultrasound (FUS-MB) Using NaviFUS System in Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme Patients
This is a study using Avastin for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma patients in Taiwan.

Safety and Efficacy of Bevacizumab in Combination With NaviFUS System for the Treatment of Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme 
This clinical trial is organizing and will be done in Virginia.  

Evaluate the Safety and Preliminary Efficacy of the Combination of NaviFUS System With Re-irradiation for rGBM Patients 
This study is combining the NaviFUS system with re-irratiation in recurrent glioblastoma patients in Taiwan has stopped recruiting.  

An Ultrasound-Based Blood Brain Barrier Opening Clinical Trial Using Albumin Bound Paclitaxel to Treat Recurrent Glioblastoma 
This invasive procedure that is similar to focused ultrasound uses an implanted device to treat patients with recurrent glioblastoma.  This project is no longer recruiting patients.

Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) for Liquid Biopsy in Subjects With Glioblastoma Brain Tumors  
A clinical trial for patients with glioblastoma for liquid biopsy has completed recruiting patients.  

A multi-site clinical trial is treating patients with recurrent glioblastoma  
This trial is using the Sonocloud-9 implantable device to enhance the treatment with carboplatin has completed recruitment of patients.  

The following studies concern focused ultrasound and sonodynamic therapy.  

Sonodynamic therapy with progressive or recurrent glioblastoma 
This study is using IV 5 ALA to treat patient with new or progressing glioblastoma at the Mayo Clinic. 

A combination of sonodynamic therapy and chemotherapy is being studies in Henan, China.  
This study is using Hiporfin® is a brand name for hematoporphyrin derivative, combined with chemotherapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma in China. This study is recruiting patients by invitation.

Sonodynamic therapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. 
This study used oral gliolan (5 ALA) which becomes altered in the presence of focused ultrasound and becomes locally toxic to the tumor in Virginia.  

A study of sonodynamic therapy for patient with high grade glioma  
A new clinical trial in the US is using sound activated drugs to treat patients with recurrent high grade glioma, including glioblastoma in Arizona.  

A study of sonodynamic therapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma  
This study will use low frequency focused ultrasound to activate drugs in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.  This project has been completed.

A study in Germany for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma 
This study will use oral gliolan (5 ALA) to treat patients prior to surgical resection in Germany. 

The following studies concern tumors in pediatric patients.  

Phase 1/2 Study of Sonodynamic therapy to treat Type 2 Patients with DIPG  
A clinical trial is using sonodynamic therapy to treat pediatric patients who are five years and older with DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma).  This project has been suspended.

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption Using Exablate Focused Ultrasound With Doxorubicin for Treatment of Pediatric DIPG  
A clinical trial using doxorubicin to treat DIPG has begun in the US.  

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption Using Exablate Focused Ultrasound With Doxorubicin for Treatment of Pediatric DIPG  
A clinical trial using doxorubicin to treat DIPG has begun in Canada.  

FUS Etoposide for DMG – A Feasibility Study  
This clinical trial is using focused ultrasound to temporarily open the blood brain barrier to enhance absorption of the chemotherapy agent etoposide. 

A Safety Study of the Repeated Opening of the Blood-brain Barrier With the SonoCloud® Device to Treat Malignant Brain Tumors in Pediatric Patients (SONOKID) 
This clinical trial using the implated Carthera device is recruiting pediatric patients with recurrent malignant brain tumors in multiple locations.  

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/. 

Preclinical Laboratory Studies

• *Optimizing timing of therapeutic delivery with MB-FUS-mediated BBB Opening for enhancing drug delivery into residual invasive regions of glioblastoma
• *Disrupting therapeutics outcomes in GBM (Institute of Cancer Research)
• *Polymeric biodegradable nanoparticles for gene therapy in a murine glioblastoma model (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
• *PET-labeling and testing of paclitaxel nanoformulations with MB-FUS (University of Maryland School of Medicine)
• *Microvascular Ablation of Intracranial Gliomas with Focused Ultrasound (F98 Line) (University of Virginia)
• *Non-invasive De-bulking of Brain Tumors (University of Virginia)
• *Deploying MRgFUS BBBO to promote dendritic cell activation in the GBM TME (University of Virginia)
• *Augmenting Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Drug Delivery to Brain Tumors with Vascular Normalization (University of Virginia)

*The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is fully or partially funding these projects.

Manufacturers

The following manufacturers are active in the field of focused ultrasound and its applications for glioblastoma.

• Alpheus Medical, Inc. | Chanhassen, MN, USA | www.alpheusmedical.com
• BrainSonix Corp. | Sherman Oaks, CA, USA | www.brainsonix.com
• Carthera, SA. | Lyon, France | www.carthera.eu
• Cordance Medical | Mountain View, CA, USA | www.cordancemedical.com
• Image Guided Therapy, SA. | Pessac, France | www.imageguidedtherapy.com
• Lotus Neuro | Miami, FL, USA | www.lotusneuro.com
• INSIGHTEC LTD | Tirat Carmel, Israel | www.insigtec.com
• NaviFUS | New Taipei City, Taiwan | www.navifus.com

Media & Videos

Disrupting the Blood-Brain Barrier to Improve Glioblastoma Treatment
NewYork-Presbyterian – May 9, 2025

Research Spotlight: Enlisting Focused Ultrasound to Fight Brain Cancer
UVA Health – April 7, 2025

Carthera bags €37.5m to kickstart implantable device trial for brain cancer
Medical Device Network – June 27, 2023

Maryland man with fatal brain cancer lives, sparking hope for an experimental treatment to better guide chemo to tumors
Baltimore Sun – Aug. 31, 2022

New method delivers life-saving drugs to the brain—using sound waves
National Geographic UK – May 6, 2022

Ivy Brain Tumor Center and SonALAsense Announce Positive Initial Results of the First-in-Human Phase 0/1 Clinical Trial of Non-Invasive Sonodynamic Therapy for Recurrent Glioblastoma
GlobeNewswire – Sept. 20, 2021

Notable Papers

Qin Z, Wang Z, Gao C, Yong X, Hua Y, Zhou Y, Xie J. Ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening for targeted neurological drug delivery. Biomater Adv. 2026 Feb 3;183:214754. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2026.214754. PMID: 41666521 

Chandekar A, Laurel SR, Gupta K, Lee T, Wakida N, Hirschberg H. Sonodynamic therapy inhibition of invasive glioma cells from tumor spheroids. Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther. 2026 Feb 5;58:105384. doi: 10.1016/j.pdpdt.2026.105384. PMID: 41654063 

Elati AH, Davies EW, Mishra MV, Winkles JA, Woodworth GF, Kim AJ. Platinum-based therapeutics as emerging multi-modal radiosensitizers in glioblastoma treatment. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2026 Feb 13;232:115811. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2026.115811. PMID: 41692149 

Al Fidawi N, Attieh CZ, Baghdadi L, El Bekai C, Sayadi S, Nabbout G, Sahyoun F, Ghadieh HE, Azar S, Harb F. Breaking Barriers: Advancements in CNS Drug Delivery for Glioblastoma. Med Sci (Basel). 2026 Feb 5;14(1):73. doi: 10.3390/medsci14010073. PMID: 41718120 

Duclos S, Kaovasia TP, Fox A, Cornett A, Pandey AS, Xu Z. First Report of Histotripsy-Induced Survival Benefit in Murine Glioblastomas. Cancers (Basel). 2026 Feb 13;18(4):622. doi: 10.3390/cancers18040622. PMID: 41749875 

Fiallo Arroyo J, Leon-Rojas JE. The Glymphatic-Immune Axis in Glioblastoma: Mechanistic Insights and Translational Opportunities. Int J Mol Sci. 2026 Jan 16;27(2):928. doi: 10.3390/ijms27020928. PMID: 41596575 

Alrashidi M, Ferro F, Almohammadi A, Alyoubi NH, Alsarheed GS, Joseph J, Banerjee S. Efficacy and safety of low- and high-intensity focused ultrasound in glioblastoma: a systematic review of preclinical and clinical studies. Br J Cancer. 2026 Jan 8. doi: 10.1038/s41416-025-03325-6. PMID: 41507561 

Lee S, Chang JW. From Ablation to Neuromodulation Platform: The Evolving Role of Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound in Functional Neurosurgery. J Clin Neurol. 2026 Jan;22(1):17-41. doi: 10.3988/jcn.2025.0563. PMID: 41517810 

Jiang Z, Xiao Y, Han M, Hou X, Zhang H, Wang T, Xing W, Li Z. Targeted enhancement of antigen cross-presentation capability of M2-like tumor-associated macrophages to boost glioblastoma immunotherapy. Biomaterials. 2026 May;328:123892. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.123892. Epub 2025 Dec 4. PMID: 41370882 

Yan Y, Hwang K, Lee J, Nam KM, Shin S, Yoon B, Zhang Z, Park MH, Kim CY. A novel microbubble delivery platform with high payload of paclitaxel upon focused ultrasound for enhanced glioblastoma treatment. Eur J Pharm Sci. 2025 Dec 12;217:107415. doi: 10.1016/j.ejps.2025.107415. PMID: 41391527 

Youngblood MW, Kumari A, Kang YT, Gould A, Habashy K, Gomez M, Lingamarla H, Morey T, Chen L, Congivaram H, Ward R, Zhang H, Sears TK, McCortney K, Pituch KC, Torres Ponce EM, Zarrieneh A, Nieves M, Vandermolen S, Primdahl D, Dixit K, Lukas RV, Kumthekar P, Dmello C, Bouchoux G, Canney M, Amidei C, Stupp R, Nagrath S, Sonabend AM. Dynamic release of extracellular particles after opening of the blood-brain barrier predicts glioblastoma susceptibility to paclitaxel. Nat Commun. 2025 Dec 16;16(1):11045. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-65681-4. PMID: 41402297 

Chang S, Jang T, Lee H, Koo M, Park OK, Choi SH, Yoo RE, Park J. Blood‒brain barrier opening with Golay-coded ultrasound to improve therapeutic consistency in glioblastoma models. Drug Deliv. 2025 Dec 31;32(1):2592940. doi: 10.1080/10717544.2025.2592940. Epub 2025 Dec 3. PMID: 41340188 

De Maio A, Lin FH, Stefanovic B, O’Reilly MA. Tissue-type Differences in Focused Ultrasound and Microbubble-mediated Drug Delivery to the Brain Exist at Vessel Level. Theranostics. 2026 Jan 1;16(4):1975-1996. doi: 10.7150/thno.117691. eCollection 2026. PMID: 41356189 

Kee H, Lee H, Park J, Jang S, Park S. Integrated focused ultrasound and electromagnetic actuation (FUEM) system for enhanced targeted drug delivery in brain cancer treatment. J Control Release. 2025 Nov 13;389:114408. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114408. PMID: 41241013 

Bell MS, Walton CM, Williams MJ, Eckert T, Brown JC, Rowland NC, Sahin O, Strickland BA. Engineering focused ultrasound for glioblastoma. Brain Stimul. 2025 Nov 21;19(1):102986. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2025.102986. PMID: 41276162 

Chen KT, Tsai HC, Huang CY, Liau CT, Ho KC, Toh CH, Chuang CC, Hsu PW, Huang YC, Chang TW, Yeap MC, Chen PY, Lee CC, Lin YJ, Feng LY, Airan RD, Li G, Lim M, Liu HL, Wei KC. Combination of Neuronavigation-Guided Focused Ultrasound and Bevacizumab for Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma: A Pilot Study. Neurosurgery. 2025 Nov 24. doi: 10.1227/neu.0000000000003851. PMID: 41283685 

Sanai N, Tovmasyan A, Tien AC, Chang YW, Margaryan T, Knight W, Hendrickson K, Eschbacher J, Harmon J, Hong A, Yoo W, Furey C, Marcus SL, Alhilali L, Barani I, Mirzadeh Z, Mehta S. An early clinical trial of 5-ALA sonodynamic therapy in recurrent high-grade glioma. Sci Transl Med. 2025 Nov 26;17(826):eads5813. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.ads5813. PMID: 41296829 

Pouliopoulos AN. Focused ultrasound treatments could increase survival in individuals with glioma. Lancet Oncol. 2025 Dec;26(12):1522-1524. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(25)00552-2. PMID: 41308670 

Woodworth GF, Anastasiadis P, Ozair A, Chabros J, Bettegowda C, Chen C, Gerstl JVE, Douville C, Mekary RA, Smith TR, Meng Y, Hawkins C, Pople CB, Abrahao A, Llinas M, Heyn C, Bunevicius A, Rezai AR, Ball AJS, Henry K, Sahgal A, Torio E, Ren H, Ahmad H, Arora H, Eisenberg H, Perry J, Carpenter JS, Hynynen K, Pham LC, Anketell MB, Lim-Fat MJ, Xu Z, Cifarelli CP, Sheehan JP, McDannold NJ, Gandhi D, Golby AJ, Lipsman N. Microbubble-enhanced transcranial focused ultrasound with temozolomide for patients with high-grade glioma (BT008NA): a multicentre, open-label, phase 1/2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2025 Dec;26(12):1651-1664. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(25)00492-9. PMID: 41308679 

Wang N, Qing Q, Xue Y, Cai S, Zheng M, Zhang D, Ismail M. Enhancing lipid nanoparticles-mediated RNA delivery to glioblastoma via targeted strategies. J Control Release. 2025 Nov 27:114472. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114472. PMID: 41317918 

Chen KT, Tsai HC, Huang CY, Liau CT, Ho KC, Toh CH, Chuang CC, Hsu PW, Huang YC, Chang TW, Yeap MC, Chen PY, Lee CC, Lin YJ, Feng LY, Airan RD, Li G, Lim M, Liu HL, Wei KC. Combination of Neuronavigation-Guided Focused Ultrasound and Bevacizumab for Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma: A Pilot Study.  

Neurosurgery. 2025 Nov 24. doi: 10.1227/neu.0000000000003851. Online ahead of print.PMID: 41283685 

Wang Y, Wen Q, Hu A, Chen X, Liu J, Lin J, Xie Y. Advances in ultrasound-mediated brain drug delivery. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2025 Sep 27:rgaf090. doi: 10.1093/jpp/rgaf090. PMID: 41014313 

Hey G, DeYoung C, Dagra A, Gillam W, Lucke-Wold B. An overview of focused ultrasound as a treatment option for gliomas. Expert Rev Neurother. 2025 Sep;25(9):1103-1118. doi: 10.1080/14737175.2025.2534615. Epub 2025 Jul 20. PMID: 40685656 

Eckert T, Suresh R, Zobaer MS, Rowland NC. Invasive and non-invasive tumor-treating electric field (TTF) therapy: An exciting advance in oncologic neuromodulation. Brain Stimul. 2025;18(5):1357-1366. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2025.07.018. Epub 2025 Jul 28. PMID: 40738400 

Muhammad S, Maridevaru MC, Roy S, Chen D, Zeng W, Sun L, Zhang Y, Guo B. Piezodynamic Therapy: Unleashing Mechanical Energy and Featuristic Next Generation Therapeutic Paradigms for Glioblastoma. ACS Nano. 2025 Sep 23;19(37):33008-33058. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5c11629. Epub 2025 Sep 15. PMID: 40948474 

Martin E, Roberts M, Grigoras IF, Wright O, Nandi T, Rieger SW, Campbell J, den Boer T, Cox BT, Stagg CJ, Treeby BE. Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 5;16(1):8024. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63020-1. PMID: 40913042   

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive therapeutic technology that is transforming the treatment and quality of life for patients with Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG), which is the newer name for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a term which is still commonly used. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic energy precisely and accurately on targets in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue, and it is currently in clinical trials for patients with DIPG/DMG.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, the ultrasound produces a variety of therapeutic effects enabling treatment without incisions or radiation. Several different approaches are currently in consideration for this disease, and these will be briefly discussed.

Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption
The BBB is normally a protective barrier for the brain, preventing adverse agents that may be present in the blood stream gaining unfettered access to the brain. However, in the setting of DIPG/DMG, the BBB may still be intact, and can prevent therapeutic agents (like chemotherapy) from accessing this area in sufficient quantities for maximal effect. The temporary disruption of the BBB in the targeted area enables enhanced penetration by the therapeutic agent, and following the treatment, the BBB will re-form, typically in about a day.

Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT)
Certain agents that were originally used as visual dyes to help surgeons differentiate between tumor and normal tissue, have been found to be altered after treatment by focused ultrasound, resulting in materials that are toxic to the tumor in the local area. These agents are also accumulated in tumor cells, including DIPG/DMG, which maximizes the detrimental effect on the targeted tissue. Clinical trials using this technique are providing targeted therapy to certain tumors, including DIPG/DMG.

Combination with Radiation
The combination of focused ultrasound with radiation has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of radiation. The coupling of these is being used in clinical trials for recurrent glioblastoma, and this may be an area for DIPG/DMG in the future.

Benefits

There is no cure for DIPG, and treatment is limited by the location of these tumors in a very small and eloquent region of the brain called the brainstem. The current standard of care for these tumors is radiation therapy and trials of chemotherapy. These treatments have limited efficacy and are associated with significant side effects. Focused ultrasound has the potential to offer an alternative or complement to the above therapies.

Advantages:

• Noninvasive – no incisions, no risk of infection or bleeding, less pain, and rapid recovery
• Image-guided – precision targeting with minimal damage to surrounding tissue
• Safe, temporary, and repetitive opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) – enhancing the delivery of therapeutics directly to the brain target site
• No ionizing radiation – fewer side effects and can be safely repeated

Regulatory Authorizations

Focused ultrasound is not approved by any regulatory bodies worldwide as a treatment for DIPG/DMG, nor is the treatment reimbursed by medical insurance providers.

Clinical Trials

The following clinical trials are recruiting patients with DIPG/DMG for focused ultrasound treatment:

FUS Etoposide for DMG – A Feasibility Study 
This clinical trial is using focused ultrasound to temporarily open the blood brain barrier to enhance absorption of the chemotherapy agent etoposide.

Phase 1/2 Study of Sonodynamic therapy to treat Type 2 Patients with DIPG
A clinical trial is using sonodynamic therapy to treat pediatric patients who are five years and older with DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma).

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption Using Exablate Focused Ultrasound With Doxorubicin for Treatment of Pediatric DIPG
A clinical trial using doxorubicin to treat DIPG has begun in the US.

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption Using Exablate Focused Ultrasound With Doxorubicin for Treatment of Pediatric DIPG
A clinical trial using doxorubicin to treat DIPG has begun in Canada.

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/. 

Preclinical Laboratory Studies

• *Sonobiopsy for noninvasive diagnosis of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) (Washington University in St. Louis, United States)
• *Focused Ultrasound (FUS) promotes blood-brain barrier opening and delivery of GB13 to pediatric high-grade gliomas (University of Colorado Hospital, Anschutz Medical Campus)
• Focused Ultrasound Enhanced Drug Delivery and Sonodynamic Therapy for the Treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (Children’s National Medical Center)
• Focused Ultrasound consortium for treatment of children diagnosed with diffuse midline gliomas (Columbia University, Children’s National Medical Center)

*The Focused Ultrasound foundation is partially or fully funding these studies.

Manufacturers

• INSIGHTEC LTD | Tirat Carmel, Israel | www.insightec.com
• Delsona Therapeutics, Inc. | New York, NY

Additional Resources

There are many government bodies and patient groups dedicated specifically to DIPG/DMG and also for brain tumors in general. Some examples are included below.

DIPG/DMS specific

• The DIPG/DMG Resource Network
• DIPG-ACCO American Childhood Cancer Organization
• DIPG Advocacy Group

Brain Tumor

• Medline Plus: A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and NIH
• National Cancer Institute’s Brain Tumor Page
• American Brain Tumor Association
• National Brain Tumor Society
• Brain Tumor Research

Media

Clinical trial delivers chemotherapy to pediatric brain tumors using MRI-guided focused ultrasound
U of T News – January 23, 2023

Brain tumor team performs first ever LIFU procedure on pediatric DIPG patient
Children’s National Research Institute – September 19, 2022

SonALAsense Forges Ahead with First Patient Dosing for Devastating Childhood Brain Cancer
SonALAsense – September 13, 2022

Notable Papers

Wu CC, Szalontay L, Pouliopoulos AN, Bae S, Berg X, Wei HJ, Webster Carrion A, Kokossis D, Sethi C, Fino J, Shatravka H, Lipina J, Ji R, Liu K, Yousefian O, Gallitto M, Yoh N, Englander Z, McQuillan N, Tazhibi M, De Los Santos G, Canoll P, Jin Z, Garvin J, Gartrell RD, Pavisic J, Maddocks A, Lignelli A, Feldstein N, Konofagou EE, Zacharoulis S. Blood-brain barrier opening with neuronavigation-guided focused ultrasound in pediatric patients with diffuse midline glioma. Sci Transl Med. 2025 Nov 12;17(824):eadq6645. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adq6645. PMID: 41223245 

Martin E, Roberts M, Grigoras IF, Wright O, Nandi T, Rieger SW, Campbell J, den Boer T, Cox BT, Stagg CJ, Treeby BE. Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 5;16(1):8024. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63020-1. PMID: 40913042  

Arrieta VA, Gould A, Kim KS, Habashy KJ, Dmello C, Vázquez-Cervantes GI, Palacín-Aliana I, McManus G, Amidei C, Gomez C, Dhiantravan S, Chen L, Zhang DY, Saganty R, Cholak ME, Pandey S, McCord M, McCortney K, Castro B, Ward R, Muzzio M, Bouchoux G, Desseaux C, Canney M, Carpentier A, Zhang B, Miska JM, Lesniak MS, Horbinski CM, Lukas RV, Stupp R, Lee-Chang C, Sonabend AM. Ultrasound-mediated delivery of doxorubicin to the brain results in immune modulation and improved responses to PD-1 blockade in gliomas. Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 6;15(1):4698. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48326-w. PMID: 38844770  

Young CC, Narsinh KH, Chen SR, Ansari SA, Hetts SW, Lang FF, Wintermark M, Kan PT. State of Practice: A Report from the Inaugural SNIS Neurointerventional Oncology Summit. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Jul 1:ajnr.A8902. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A8902. PMID: 40592540 

McVeigh L, Patel T, Miclea M, Schwark K, Ajaero D, Momen F, Clausen M, Adam T, Aittaleb R, Wadden J, Lau B, Franson AT, Koschmann C, Marupudi NI. Updates in Diagnostic Techniques and Experimental Therapies for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Mar 10;17(6):931. doi: 10.3390/cancers17060931. PMID: 40149267 

Gallitto M, Zhang X, De Los Santos G, Wei HJ, Fernández EC, Duan S, Sedor G, Yoh N, Kokosi D, Angel JC, Wang YF, White E, Kinslow CJ, Berg X, Tomassoni L, Zandkarimi F, Chio IIC, Canoll PD, Bruce JN, Feldstein NA, Gartrell RD, Cheng S, Garvin JH, Zacharoulis S, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Pavisic J, Califano A, Zhang Z, Wu CC. Targeted delivery of napabucasin with radiotherapy improves outcomes in diffuse midline glioma. Neuro Oncol. 2024 Oct 12:noae215. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noae215. PMID: 39394920 

Keating GF, Chesney KM, Patel N, Kilburn L, Fonseca A, Packer RJ, Challa C, O’Brien PF, Donoho DA, Myseros JS, Oluigbo C, Keating RF, Syed HR. MR-guided focused ultrasound in pediatric neurosurgery: current insights, technical challenges, and lessons learned from 45 treatments at Children’s National Hospital. Neurosurg Focus. 2024 Sep 1;57(3):E6. doi: 10.3171/2024.6.FOCUS24332. PMID: 39217632 

Lin C, Smith C, Rutka J. Current immunotherapeutic approaches to diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Front Genet. 2024 May 7;15:1349612. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1349612. eCollection 2024. PMID: 38774284 

Arms LM, Duchatel RJ, Jackson ER, Sobrinho PG, Dun MD, Hua S. Current status and advances to improving drug delivery in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. J Control Release. 2024 May 20;370:835-865. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.05.018. PMID: 38744345 

Chesney KM, Keating GF, Patel N, Kilburn L, Fonseca A, Wu CC, Nazarian J, Packer RJ, Donoho DA, Oluigbo C, Myseros JS, Keating RF, Syed HR. The role of focused ultrasound for pediatric brain tumors: current insights and future implications on treatment strategies. Childs Nerv Syst. 2024 May 3. doi: 10.1007/s00381-024-06413-9. PMID: 38702518 

‘t Hart E, Bianco J, Bruin MAC, Derieppe M, Besse HC, Berkhout K, Chin Joe Kie LA, Su Y, Hoving EW, Huitema ADR, Ries MG, van Vuurden DG. Radiosensitisation by olaparib through focused ultrasound delivery in a diffuse midline glioma model. J Control Release. 2023 Apr 5;357:287-298. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.03.058.

Syed HR, Kilburn L, Fonseca A, Nazarian J, Oluigbo C, Myseros JS, Packer RJ, Keating RF. First-in-human sonodynamic therapy with ALA for pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma: a phase 1/2 study using low-intensity focused ultrasound : Technical communication. J Neurooncol. 2023 Apr 12. doi: 10.1007/s11060-023-04269-8.

Parekh K, LeBlang S, Nazarian J, Mueller S, Zacharoulis S, Hynynen K, Powlovich L. Past, present and future of Focused Ultrasound as an adjunct or complement to DIPG/DMG therapy: A consensus of the 2021 FUSF DIPG meeting. Neoplasia. 2023 Jan 27;37:100876. doi: 10.1016/j.neo.2023.100876. Online ahead of print.

Dalle Ore C, Coleman-Abadi C, Gupta N, Mueller S. Advances and Clinical Trials Update in the Treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas. Pediatr Neurosurg. 2023 Jan 13. doi: 10.1159/000529099.  

Power EA, Rechberger JS, Gupta S, Schwartz JD, Daniels DJ, Khatua S. Drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier for the treatment of pediatric brain tumors – An update. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2022 Jun;185:114303. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2022.114303. Epub 2022 Apr 21.

Tierney TS, Alavian KN, Altman N, Bhatia S, Duchowny M, Hyslop A, Jayakar P, Resnick T, Wang S, Miller I, Ragheb J. Initial experience with magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound stereotactic surgery for central brain lesions in young adults. J Neurosurg. 2022 Jan 14:1-8. doi: 10.3171/2021.10.JNS21416.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

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 brain tumors. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, the ultrasound produces a variety of therapeutic effects, enabling treatment without incisions or radiation. These include temporary opening of the blood-brain barrier, designed to improve levels in the brain of therapeutic agents; thermal ablation; activation of sono-sensitive agents at the target; and combining with radiation therapy for a more pronounced effect. There is also a study using focused ultrasound prior to surgery to help mark the boundary of the tumor extension.

There are several listings for specific diseases within the broader brain tumor category, so you may want to go to these headings for a more detailed description.  

DIPG/DMG
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is also referred to as Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG) is also being investigated using several methods of action. Sonodynamic therapy, (where non toxic agents can respond to ultrasound stimulation to become locally toxic to the tumor), blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption (where the temporary disruption of the BBB can enable better penetration of chemotherapy agents) and the combination of focused ultrasound with radiation can help improve the outcomes.  

Glioblastoma
There are several mechanisms of action that are being explored for glioblastoma. Thermal ablation (either complete or partial, which may help with the immune response), sonodynamic therapy, (where non toxic agents can respond to ultrasound stimulation to become locally toxic to the tumor), blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption (where the temporary disruption of the BBB can enable better penetration of chemotherapy agents) and the combination of focused ultrasound with radiation can help improve the outcomes.

Neuroblastoma
There are several mechanisms of action that are being pursued for neuroblastoma. Thermal ablation (either complete or partial, which may help with the immune response), and hyperthermia (temperature elevation) can help with the penetration of chemotherapy agents. 

Neurofibromatosis
There are three types of Neurofibromatosis, type 1, type 2, and schwannomatosis, and the common symptom is that the benign tumors grow out with the peripheral nerves and cause numerous symptoms, often associated with pain, as a result. There has been some work proposed on these, and we are looking for clinical trials soon.

Metastatic disease
There is the use of blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption (where the temporary disruption of the BBB can enable better penetration of chemotherapy agents) to allow the treatment of cancers that have metastasized to the brain to be treated. See below for a study on lung cancers that have metastasized to the brain.

Advantages
Current treatments for brain tumors include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, all of which have limitations and side effects.

Focused ultrasound, used alone or in combination with conventional therapies, has several potential advantages.

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.
• Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue.
• Focused ultrasound does not include the use of ionizing radiation
• Enhanced chemotherapy dose for the target, with less impact to the rest of the patient.
• It can be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

Focused Ultrasound Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption for the Treatment of High-Grade Glioma in Patients Undergoing Standard Chemotherapy 
This clinical trial is using focused ultrasound to temporarily opening the blood brain barrier in patients undergoing maintenance chemotherapy in the Stupp Protocol. 

Extracellular Impact of Ultrasound-induced Blood-brain Barrier Disruption
This study of BBBD is looking at the impact of the treatment on other therapeutic and pharmacodynamic substances that may also be in the area when this is accomplished.  

An Ultrasound-Based Blood Brain Barrier Opening Clinical Trial Using Albumin Bound Paclitaxel to Treat Recurrent Glioblastoma 
This invasive procedure that is similar to focused ultrasound uses an implanted device to treat patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) for Liquid Biopsy in Subjects With Glioblastoma Brain Tumors 
A clinical trial for patients with Glioblastoma for liquid biopsy has also begun recruiting patients. 

The following studies concern focused ultrasound and sonodynamic therapy. 

Sonodynamic therapy with progressive or recurrent glioblastoma 
This study is using IV 5 ALA to treat patient with new or progressing glioblastoma at the Mayo Clinic. 

A combination of sonodynamic therapy and chemotherapy is being studies in Henan, China.  
This study is using Hiporfin® is a brand name for hematoporphyrin derivative, combined with chemotherapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma in China.  

Sonodynamic therapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.
This study used oral gleolan (5 ALA) which becomes altered in the presence of focused ultrasound and becomes locally toxic to the tumor.

A study of sonodynamic therapy for patient with high grade glioma 
A new clinical trial in the US is using sound activated drugs to treat patients with recurrent high grade glioma, including glioblastoma. 

A study of sonodynamic therapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma 
This study will use low frequency focused ultrasound to activate drugs in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. 

Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) for Liquid Biopsy in Subjects With Glioblastoma Brain Tumors   
A clinical trial for patients with glioblastoma for liquid biopsy has also begun recruiting patients.  

The following studies concern tumors in pediatric patients. 

Phase 1/2 Study of Sonodynamic therapy to treat Type 2 Patients with DIPG 
A clinical trial is using sonodynamic therapy to treat pediatric patients who are five years and older with DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma). 

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption Using Exablate Focused Ultrasound With Doxorubicin for Treatment of Pediatric DIPG 
A clinical trial using doxorubicin to treat DIPG has begun in the US. 

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption Using Exablate Focused Ultrasound With Doxorubicin for Treatment of Pediatric DIPG 
A clinical trial using doxorubicin to treat DIPG has begun in Canada. 

A Feasibility Safety Study of Benign Centrally-Located Intracranial Tumors in Pediatric and Young Adult Subjects 
Centrally located intracranial benign tumors that require intervention in pediatric and young adult patients. This study has been completed. A follow-up, multi-center study treating hypothalamic hamartomas using the same CT.gov number has begun recruiting.

A clinical trial by Carthera is recruiting pediatric patients with recurrent malignant brain tumors in France. 
 
The following studies concern treatment of tumors from the body that have metastasized to the brain. 

A clinical trial for patients with breast cancer that has metastasized to their brain is enrolling patients in Canada. The team will us focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier to allow therapeutic medications to more effectively reach the tumor in their brain. This study is only open to Canadian citizens. A summary of the first four patients has been published. 

A clinical trial for patients with lung cancer that has metastasized to the brain has begun recruiting patients in the US. 
 
The following study concerns a wide variety of brain tumors.

This clinical trial is for a wide variety of brain tumors that are planned to be biopsied. This study is only open to Canadian citizens. 

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/. 

See a list of treatment sites >
See a list of clinical trials sites >
See a list of laboratory research sites >

Find a Treatment Site

Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound is not approved by any regulatory bodies worldwide as a treatment for brain tumors, nor is the treatment reimbursed by medical insurance providers.

Preclinical Laboratory Studies

Preclinical studies are underway to investigate the use of various mechanisms of focused ultrasound in the treatment of brain tumors. Examples of these studies include:

• Focused ultrasound to temporarily disrupt the BBB and deliver a variety of chemotherapy or immunotherapy drugs, including the dosing and timing (e.g. frequency) of drug administration. 
• Focused ultrasound to induce an immune response, including a multi-site study investigating the type of immune response elicited by different “modes” of energy delivery. 
• Focused ultrasound to enable targeted delivery and/or activation of drugs via carrier vehicles (e.g. microbubbles, nanoparticles, liposomes) to enable delivery of high concentrations in the tumor with minimal systemic side effects. 
• Non-thermal mechanical destruction of tumor using a type of focused ultrasound called histotripsy. 

Additional Resources

There are many government bodies and patient groups dedicated to brain tumors, including the following:

• Medline Plus: A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and NIH 
• National Cancer Institute’s Brain Tumor Page
• American Brain Tumor Association
• National Brain Tumor Society

Notable Papers

Suggested Reading: Focused Ultrasound for Glioblastoma (PDF), June 2021. 

Lin J, Zhang X, Zhou Q, Cao W. Multifactorial regulation of ultrasound-induced cavitation by engineered silica nanoparticles. Ultrason Sonochem. 2026 Mar 14;128:107817. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2026.107817. PMID: 41855993 

Landry TG, Forbes AN, Brown JA. Rapid skull decalcification for improved ultrasound transmission in brain imaging and histotripsy: A proof-of-concept study in rat. Ultrasonics. 2026 Mar;159:107859. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107859. Epub 2025 Oct 8. PMID: 41075556 

Liu D, Shao X, Silva FM, Sanatkhani S, Lee R, Konofagou EE, Wang DJ, Ferrera VP. Alteration of water exchange rates following focused ultrasound-mediated BBB opening in the dorsal striatum of non-human primates: A diffusion-prepared pCASL study. Neuroimage. 2026 Mar;328:121805. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121805. Epub 2026 Feb 12. PMID: 41690338 

Kofoed RH, Elmer B, Noseworthy K, Ardinger J, Wu K, Wischhof E, Vecchio LM, Mahendran TA, Dibia CL, Koch H, Chou SC, Sivadas S, Bu J, Wu SK, McMahon D, Mikloska K, White M, Ramachandran S, Hynynen K, Mueller C, Aubert I. Focused ultrasound expands intra-CSF AAV delivery to deep brain regions in rats and non-human primates. Mol Ther. 2026 Feb 13:S1525-0016(26)00107-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.02.021. PMID: 41691370 

You L, Dai M, Dong C, Zheng M, Zhang K, Ran H, Liu J, Luo P, Zhang Q, Zeng H, Wei J, Yan S, Yang Y, Wang Z, Wen E. Enhanced Sonodynamic Therapy and Radiotherapy Efficacy: Modified Polyethylene Glycol-Bismuth Trioxide Nanoplatform for Targeted Tumor Treatment. Biomater Res. 2026 Feb 18;30:0325. doi: 10.34133/bmr.0325. eCollection 2026. PMID: 41716205 

Noel RL, Kugelman T, Karakatsani ME, Shahriar S, Willner MJ, Jimenez DA, Choi CS, Nimi Y, Ji R, Agalliu D, Konofagou EE. Safe focused ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening is driven primarily by transient reorganization of tight junctions. Commun Eng. 2026 Feb 21. doi: 10.1038/s44172-026-00597-5. PMID: 41723237 

Fletcher SP, Mashburn M, Zhang Y, Chisholm A, Martinez S, Power C, McDannold NJ. Comparing the Delivery of Free and Liposomal Doxorubicin Across the Blood-Brain Barrier Following Microbubble-Mediated Focused Ultrasound. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2026 Feb 25:S0301-5629(26)00028-1. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2026.01.010. PMID: 41748412 

Lee S, Chang JW. From Ablation to Neuromodulation Platform: The Evolving Role of Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound in Functional Neurosurgery. J Clin Neurol. 2026 Jan;22(1):17-41. doi: 10.3988/jcn.2025.0563. PMID: 41517810 

Lipsman N, Hynynen K, Chen R, Lozano AM. Transcranial focused ultrasound in the human brain. Neuron. 2026 Jan 28:S0896-6273(25)00888-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.11.015. PMID: 41610842 

Chen H, Xu Z, Zhang S. Preclinical studies of histotripsy for intracranial tumors. Front Neurol. 2026 Jan 13;16:1727225. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1727225. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41607846 

Jo NC, Chernyak V. Advancing Chronic Lesion Assessment After MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Using T1/T2-weighted Ratio Maps. Radiology. 2026 Jan;318(1):e253878. doi: 10.1148/radiol.253878. PMID: 41591254 

Harb M, Nouraein S, Szablowski JO. Site-specific noninvasive delivery of retrograde viral vectors to the brain. Bioeng Transl Med. 2025 Aug 21;11(1):e70062. doi: 10.1002/btm2.70062. eCollection 2026 Jan. PMID: 41573365 

Chalet L, Nsimba F, Zambrano Zegarra M, Bertocchini N, Robert J, Augeul L, Leon C, Pillot B, Crola Da Silva C, Canet-Soulas E, Bidaux G. Renewing the theoretical framework of intensity correlation analysis to evaluate blood-brain barrier permeability with spectral fluorescence microscopy in mice. Comput Biol Med. 2026 Feb 1;202:111460. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2026.111460. Epub 2026 Jan 10. PMID: 41520473 

Huang X, Luo X, Su T, Su K, Peng S, Li H. Manganese-based metal-organic frameworks augment postoperative immunotherapy of high-intensity focused ultrasound. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2026 Jan 6;708:139847. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2026.139847. PMID: 41518922 

Lee H, Menezes V, Zeng S, Kim C, Baseman CM, Kim JH, Padmanabhan S, Premdas P, Djeddar N, Bryksin A, Pandey N, Anastasiadis P, Kim AJ, MacDonald TJ, Bettegowda C, Woodworth GF, Herrmann FJ, Arvanitis C. Data-Driven Feedback Identifies Focused Ultrasound Exposure Regimens for Improved Nanotheranostic Targeting of the Brain. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026 Jan 7:e17834. doi: 10.1002/advs.202517834. PMID: 41498583 

Satapathy M. High- and Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound. Radiol Technol. 2026;97(3):199-204. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2606701. PMID: 41490698 

Lin JW, Fan CH, Kuo TT, Yeh CK. Combining focused ultrasound and microbubbles for enhancing the migration of mesenchymal stem cells to the brain. J Control Release. 2026 Feb 10;390:114585. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114585. Epub 2025 Dec 31. PMID: 41482205 

Nowlin P, Zhang Y, Chrisholm A, Zhang H, Dai J, Owusu-Yaw BS, Young SP, Bali D, Upadhyay J, Todd N. Focused ultrasound delivery of enzyme replacement therapy to the brain of Gaa-/- Pompe disease mice. Mol Genet Metab. 2026 Jan;147(1):109294. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2025.109294. Epub 2025 Nov 20. PMID: 41349290 

Finlinson E, Snyder M, Riis T, Kubanek J. System for controlled mechanical therapies of the brain. Ultrasonics. 2026 Apr;160:107896. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107896. Epub 2025 Nov 29. PMID: 41338146 

Kantor J, Morrison M, Vanderslott S, Pollard AJ, Carlisle RC. Public attitudes towards intranasal and ultrasound mediated vaccine delivery: A cross-sectional study in the United Kingdom and United States. Vaccine. 2026 Jan 1;69:127950. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127950. Epub 2025 Nov 11. PMID: 41223692 

Davidson B, Schmidt FA, Bichsel O, Hajiabadi MM, Lozano AM. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound: A Transformative Tool for Intracranial Ablation, Drug Delivery, and Neuromodulation. IEEE Rev Biomed Eng. 2026;19:201-215. doi: 10.1109/RBME.2025.3624970. PMID: 41217925 

Liu J, He J, Chen X, Wu D. Manipulation of glymphatic system by focused ultrasound: A promising treatment of neurological diseases. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2026 Jan;46(1):162-164. doi: 10.1177/0271678X251383857. Epub 2025 Oct 22. PMID: 41123223 

De Maio A, Lin FH, Stefanovic B, O’Reilly MA. Tissue-type Differences in Focused Ultrasound and Microbubble-mediated Drug Delivery to the Brain Exist at Vessel Level. Theranostics. 2026 Jan 1;16(4):1975-1996. doi: 10.7150/thno.117691. eCollection 2026. PMID: 41356189 

Mei CS, Zong S, Madore B, Cosgrove GR, McDannold NJ. Focus correction in MR thermography for increased targeting precision during focused ultrasound procedures. Magn Reson Med. 2026 Feb;95(2):951-961. doi: 10.1002/mrm.70089. Epub 2025 Sep 24. PMID: 40991818 

Huang Y, Hynynen K. Technical Parameters and Feedback Control for Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Enhancement by Focused Ultrasound. IEEE Rev Biomed Eng. 2025 Dec 2;PP. doi: 10.1109/RBME.2025.3636806. PMID: 41329597 

Nabavizadeh A, Narsinh K, Kaufmann TJ, Liu H, Pouliopoulos AN, Prada F, Agarwal V, Ellingson BM, Sanvito F, Everson RG, Meng Y, Gandhi D, Chang SM, Wen PY, Ahluwalia MS, Sul N, Hadley L, Leblang S, Shah BR, Arvanitis CD, Burns TC, Moosa S, Woodworth GF. Focused Ultrasound in Brain Tumors: Mechanisms, Imaging Guidance, and Emerging Clinical Applications. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Dec 5:ajnr.A9126. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A9126. PMID: 41360502 

Di Cosmo L, Costa G, Centini FR, Hammond J, Mariola C, Pellicanò F, Totis F, Tam J, Lozano AM. A systematic review of the current trends and future directions of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in neurosurgery. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 2025 Dec 11:1-19. doi: 10.1159/000549834. PMID: 41379746 

Boffelli L, Fimiani C, Núñez NG, Kienzler JC. Synergy of radiotherapy, focused ultrasound, and immunotherapy in the treatment of brain metastases. J Neurooncol. 2025 Dec 15;176(1):124. doi: 10.1007/s11060-025-05379-1. PMID: 41396538 

Fadera S, Boas CAWV, Yue Y, Gu Z, Yuan J, De D, Rogers BE, Nazeri A, Chen H. Focused ultrasound-enhanced nose-to-brain delivery of a therapeutic antibody in a large-animal model. Theranostics. 2026 Jan 1;16(5):2156-2169. doi: 10.7150/thno.124354. eCollection 2026. PMID: 41424850 

Mishra A, Payne C, Carrascal-Miniño A, Sunassee K, Halbherr S, Pouliopoulos AN, T M de Rosales R. PET imaging for non-invasive monitoring of 89Zr-Talidox delivery to the brain following focused ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening. J Control Release. 2025 Nov 10;387:114183. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114183. Epub 2025 Sep 1. PMID: 40902668 

Estrada H, Liu C, Özbek A, Chen Z, Reiss M, Shoham S, Razansky D. Brain-wide hemodynamic responses to precise transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation. Brain Stimul. 2025 Nov 6;19(1):102978. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2025.11.005. PMID: 41205798 

Lee LC, Lo KK. Ultrasound-activatable transition metal complexes to potentiate sonodynamic therapy. Chem Sci. 2025 Nov 17. doi: 10.1039/d5sc06387f. PMID: 41257199 

Freeman DK, Odegaard B, Yoo SS, Michel M. Transcranial focused ultrasound for identifying the neural substrate of conscious perception. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2025 Nov 19;180:106485. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106485. PMID: 41270981 

Di H, Huang Y, Yu Q, Liu H, Xue C, Schnakers C, Laureys S, Monti MM. The efficacy and safety of low-intensity focused ultrasound pulses for prolonged disorders of consciousness: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Front Neurol. 2025 Nov 6;16:1597567. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1597567. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41281547 

Fang J, Li N, Li H, Wang M, Wang L. In Vitro Assessment of Radiopharmaceutical Uptake in Brain Tumor Cells Using Focused Ultrasound Stimulation. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2025 Oct 24. doi: 10.1177/10849785251388809. PMID: 41132110 

Phipps MA, Mishra A, Donovan CL, Newton AT, McKnight CD, Dockum AQ, Sigona MK, Yang PF, Caskey CF, Chen LM. Magnetic Resonance Imaging Monitoring of the Safety of Repeated Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Exposure at Three Brain Locations. Neuromodulation. 2025 Nov 1:S1094-7159(25)01039-6. doi: 10.1016/j.neurom.2025.09.313. PMID: 41175114 

Wang Y, Wen Q, Hu A, Chen X, Liu J, Lin J, Xie Y. Advances in ultrasound-mediated brain drug delivery. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2025 Sep 27:rgaf090. doi: 10.1093/jpp/rgaf090. PMID: 41014313 

Yu K, He B. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Modulates Visual Thalamus in a Nonhuman Primate Model. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2025 Oct;72(10):2893-2901. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2025.3554935. PMID: 40193266 

Mohammadjavadi M, Ash RT, Glover GH, Pauly KB. Optimization of MR acoustic radiation force imaging (MR-ARFI) for human transcranial focused ultrasound. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Sep;94(3):1060-1071. doi: 10.1002/mrm.30539. Epub 2025 May 6. PMID: 40326562 

Allen SP, Chen S, Yan K, Moore DA, Meyer CH. A retraced spiral strategy with semi-automatic deblurring for volumetric thermometry. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Oct;94(4):1432-1444. doi: 10.1002/mrm.30560. Epub 2025 May 20. PMID: 40391713 

Sharma A, Zarcone K, Grissom WA. Magnitude preparation-based MR-acoustic radiation force imaging. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Oct;94(4):1445-1457. doi: 10.1002/mrm.30562. Epub 2025 May 30. PMID: 40443184 

Guo T, Dong F, Yin J, Wang X, Min P, Zhang J, Cheng H, Zhang J. A novel ultrasound-responsive cluster bomb system for efficient siRNA delivery in brain. Ultrason Sonochem. 2025 Sep;120:107446. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2025.107446. Epub 2025 Jun 25. PMID: 40582054 

Yang SM, Wu JR, Lin YL, Lin SJ, Chen WS, Hsiao MY. Parameter-dependent offline modulation of motor cortical excitability by transcranial low-intensity focused ultrasound: Evidence from rat models. Brain Res. 2025 Sep 15;1863:149813. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149813. Epub 2025 Jul 4. PMID: 40617468 

Mishra A, Payne C, Carrascal-Miniño A, Sunassee K, Halbherr S, Pouliopoulos AN, T M de Rosales R. PET imaging for non-invasive monitoring of 89Zr-Talidox delivery to the brain following focused ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening. J Control Release. 2025 Sep 1;387:114183. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114183. PMID: 40902668 

Dauba A, Nguyen THV, Ador T, Spitzlei C, Porret E, Jourdain L, Selingue E, Moine L, Gennisson JL, Truillet C, Larrat B, Mériaux S, Delalande A, Tsapis N, Novell A. Hybrid lipidic and fluorinated polymer microbubbles for blood-brain barrier opening: a comparative study with SonoVue. Ultrason Sonochem. 2025 Oct;121:107540. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2025.107540. Epub 2025 Aug 31. PMID: 40912226 

Nan Z, Shi L, Liu H, Han X, Chen J, Wu D, Wan M, Feng Y. Dual-Frequency HIFU-Activated Multifunctional Nanoparticles for Trimodal Synergistic Therapy and Immune Responses with Real-Time US/MRI Guidance. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2025 Sep 24;17(38):53096-53109. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5c09753. Epub 2025 Sep 13. PMID: 40944627 

Martin E, Roberts M, Grigoras IF, Wright O, Nandi T, Rieger SW, Campbell J, den Boer T, Cox BT, Stagg CJ, Treeby BE. Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 5;16(1):8024. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63020-1. PMID: 40913042 

Arrieta VA, Gould A, Kim KS, Habashy KJ, Dmello C, Vázquez-Cervantes GI, Palacín-Aliana I, McManus G, Amidei C, Gomez C, Dhiantravan S, Chen L, Zhang DY, Saganty R, Cholak ME, Pandey S, McCord M, McCortney K, Castro B, Ward R, Muzzio M, Bouchoux G, Desseaux C, Canney M, Carpentier A, Zhang B, Miska JM, Lesniak MS, Horbinski CM, Lukas RV, Stupp R, Lee-Chang C, Sonabend AM. Ultrasound-mediated delivery of doxorubicin to the brain results in immune modulation and improved responses to PD-1 blockade in gliomas. Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 6;15(1):4698. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48326-w. PMID: 38844770  

Ri J, Pang N, Xu L, Ji N, Yue X, Kim I, Shen L, Zheng D. Numerical analysis of the acoustic pressure inside blood vessel with exposure to high-intensity focused ultrasound. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2025 Aug 4:1-15. doi: 10.1080/10255842.2025.2541896. PMID: 40760877 

Rigollet S, Delphin A, Chalet L, Ador T, Dumont E, Lemasson B, Christen T, Pichon C, Delalande A, Stupar V, Barbier EL. Microvascular and astrocytic responses to repeated magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound. J Control Release. 2025 Aug 20;386:114151. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114151. PMID: 40845925 

Sakharova G, Krokhmal A, Galimova R, Khatmullina A, Nabiullina D, Buzaev I, Avzaletdinova D, Chupova D, Khokhlova V. The use of alendronate to enhance transcranial transmission of focused ultrasound for successful ablations in brain. Ultrasonics. 2025 Aug 19;157:107796. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107796. PMID: 40848325 

Bahr-Hosseini M, Spivak NM, Hopkins AR, Cisneros S, Hanuscin C, Saha A, Gilbert J, Schafer S, Schafer ME, Liebeskind DS, Monti MM, Saver JL. Transcranial Ultrasonic Stimulation of Cerebellar Fastigial Nucleus: First-in-Human Feasibility Study. Brain Stimul. 2025 Aug 29:S1935-861X(25)00314-6. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2025.08.020. PMID: 40886912 

Habashy KJ, Synold TW, Feng Y, Gomez C, Amidei C, Ward R, VanderMolen S, Zarrieneh A, Kim KS, Gomez M, Arrieta VA, Fares J, Burdett KB, Zhang H, Dmello C, Chen L, Bebawy JF, Canney M, Stupp R, Badie B, Portnow J, Sonabend AM. Pharmacokinetic Analysis of Carboplatin and Fluorescein Brain Retention following Ultrasound-Based Blood-Brain Barrier Opening. Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Aug 14;31(16):3562-3570. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-25-0080. PMID: 40495421 

Katz JS, Slika H, Sattari SA, Malla AP, Xia Y, Antar A, Ran K, Tyler B. Overcoming the Blood-Brain Barrier for Drug Delivery to the Brain. ACS Omega. 2025 Jul 22;10(30):32544-32563. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.5c00364. eCollection 2025 Aug 5. PMID: 40787406 

Young CC, Narsinh KH, Chen SR, Ansari SA, Hetts SW, Lang FF, Wintermark M, Kan PT. State of Practice: A Report from the Inaugural SNIS Neurointerventional Oncology Summit. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Jul 1:ajnr.A8902. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A8902. PMID: 40592540 

Ador T, Fournié M, Rigollet S, Counil C, Stupar V, Barbier EL, Pichon C, Delalande A. Ultrasound-Assisted Blood-Brain Barrier Opening Monitoring by Photoacoustic and Fluorescence Imaging Using Indocyanine Green. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Jul;51(7):1059-1069. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.02.016. Epub 2025 Mar 28. PMID: 40155229 

Mohammadjavadi M, Ash RT, Glover GH, Pauly KB. Optimization of MR acoustic radiation force imaging (MR-ARFI) for human transcranial focused ultrasound. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Sep;94(3):1060-1071. doi: 10.1002/mrm.30539. Epub 2025 May 6. PMID: 40326562 

Bhardwaj D, Youssef I, Imphean D, Holmes SK, Krishnan V, Estill-Terpack SJ, Diamond M, Chopra R, Bailey RM, Shah BR. Nitrous oxide enhances MR-guided focused ultrasound delivery of gene therapy to the murine hippocampus. Gene Ther. 2025 Jul;32(4):376-384. doi: 10.1038/s41434-025-00530-z. Epub 2025 May 6. PMID: 40328971 

Rossano F, Aglioti SM, Apollonio F, Ruocco G, Liberti M. Probing phased-array focused ultrasound transducers using realistic 3D in-silico trabecular skull models: A numerical study. Ultrasonics. 2025 Oct;154:107692. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107692. Epub 2025 May 11. PMID: 40373472 

Kline-Schoder AR, Tsitsos FN, Batts AJ, DiBenedetto MR, Liu K, Bae S, Konofagou EE. Response of Serum-Isolated Extracellular Vesicles to Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Blood-Brain Barrier Opening. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Aug;51(8):1316-1325. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.04.019. Epub 2025 May 30. PMID: 40450507 

Shmool TA, Martin LK, Jirkas A, Morse SV, Contini C, Elani Y, Hallett JP. Design Principles for Engineering Ionic Liquid-Gold Nanoparticles for Therapeutic Delivery to the Brain. ACS Nano. 2025 Jul 15;19(27):24806-24816. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5c02375. Epub 2025 Jul 3. PMID: 40605559 

Hey G, DeYoung C, Dagra A, Gillam W, Lucke-Wold B. An overview of focused ultrasound as a treatment option for gliomas. Expert Rev Neurother. 2025 Jul 20:1-16. doi: 10.1080/14737175.2025.2534615. PMID: 40685656 

Beylerli O, Gareev I, Musaev E, Roumiantsev S, Chekhonin V, Ahmad A, Chao Y, Yang G. New approaches to targeted drug therapy of intracranial tumors. Cell Death Discov. 2025 Mar 20;11(1):111. doi: 10.1038/s41420-025-02358-3. PMID: 40113789 

De Maio A, Huang Y, Lin FH, Stefanovic B, Stanisz GJ, O’Reilly MA. Evaluation of focused ultrasound modulation of the blood-brain barrier in gray and white matter. J Control Release. 2025 Mar 15;381:113631. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.113631. PMID: 40096865 

Koruk H, Payne C, Cressey P, Thanou M, Pouliopoulos AN. Delivering Gd-Labeled IgG Antibodies Into the Mouse Brain Following Focused Ultrasound Treatment. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Mar 13:S0301-5629(25)00067-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.02.015. PMID: 40087107 

Tang Z, Niu H, Wu Y, Zhang Y, Zhang F, Wang C, Zhang S, Song X, Wang Y, Du L, Jin Y. Ultrasonic head-mounted device spatiotemporal opening blood-brain barrier enhances the brain permeation of drugs for treatment of radiation-induced brain injury. Int J Pharm. 2025 Mar 11;674:125430. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2025.125430. PMID: 40081430 

Dai H, Li W, Wang Q, Cheng B. Multiple Instance Learning-Based Prediction of Blood-Brain Barrier Opening Outcomes Induced by Focused Ultrasound. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2025 Apr;72(4):1465-1472. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2024.3509533. Epub 2025 Mar 21. PMID: 40030539 

Ponomarchuk E, Tsysar S, Kadrev A, Kvashennikova A, Chupova D, Pestova P, Papikyan L, Karzova M, Danilova N, Malkov P, Chernyaev A, Buravkov S, Sapozhnikov O, Khokhlova V. Boiling Histotripsy in Ex Vivo Human Brain: Proof-of-concept. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Feb;51(2):312-320. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2024.10.006. Epub 2024 Oct 30. PMID: 39482208 

Manuel TJ, Bancel T, Tiennot T, Didier M, Santin M, Daniel M, Attali D, Tanter M, Lehéricy S, Pyatigorskaya N, Aubry JF. Ultra-short time-echo based ray tracing for transcranial focused ultrasound aberration correction in human calvaria. Phys Med Biol. 2025 Mar 21;70(7). doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/ad4f44. PMID: 38776944 

Gong Y, Xu K, Ye D, Yang Y, Miller MJ, Feng Z, Hu S, Chen H. In vivo two-photon microscopy imaging of focused ultrasound-mediated glymphatic transport in the mouse brain. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2025 Feb 22:271678X251323369. doi: 10.1177/0271678X251323369. PMID: 39985197 

Atkinson-Clement C, Kaiser M. Optimizing Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Stimulation: An Open-source Tool for Precise Targeting. Neuromodulation. 2025 Jan;28(1):185-187. doi: 10.1016/j.neurom.2024.06.496. Epub 2024 Jul 31. PMID: 39093260 

Bawiec CR, Hollender PJ, Ornellas SB, Schachtner JN, Dahill-Fuchel JF, Konecky SD, Allen JJB. A Wearable, Steerable, Transcranial Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound System. J Ultrasound Med. 2025 Feb;44(2):239-261. doi: 10.1002/jum.16600. Epub 2024 Oct 24. PMID: 39449176 

Shah BR, Tanabe J, Jordan JE, Kern D, Harward SC, Feltrin FS, O’Suilliebhain P, Sharma VD, Maldjian JA, Boutet A, Mattay R, Sugrue LP, Narsinh K, Hetts S, Shah LM, Druzgal J, Lehman VT, Lee K, Khanpara S, Lad S, Kaufmann TJ. State of Practice on Transcranial MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound: A Report from the ASNR Standards and Guidelines Committee and ACR Commission on Neuroradiology Workgroup. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Jan 8;46(1):2-10. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A8405. PMID: 39572202 

Kaovasia TP, Duclos S, Gupta D, Kalayeh K, Fabiilli M, Noll DC, Sukovich J, Pandey A, Xu Z, Hall TL. A pre-clinical MRI-guided all-in-one focused ultrasound system for murine brain studies. Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 2;15(1):144. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-84078-9. PMID: 39747938 

Young JS, Semonche A, Morshed RA, Al-Adli NN, Haddad AF, Gerritsen JKW, Saggi S, Narsinh K, de Groot J, Aghi MK. Focused ultrasound therapy as a strategy for improving glioma treatment. J Neurosurg. 2025 Jan 24:1-10. doi: 10.3171/2024.9.JNS24721. PMID: 39854698 

Arsiwala TA, Blethen KE, Wolford CP, Pecar GL, Panchal DM, Kielkowski BN, Wang P, Ranjan M, Carpenter JS, Finomore V, Rezai A, Lockman PR. Single Exposure to Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Causes Biphasic Opening of the Blood-Brain Barrier Through Secondary Mechanisms. Pharmaceutics. 2025 Jan 8;17(1):75. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics17010075. PMID: 39861723 

Giantini-Larsen AM, Pandey A, Garton ALA, Rampichini M, Winston G, Goldberg JL, Magge R, Stieg PE, Souweidane MM, Ramakrishna R. Therapeutic manipulation and bypass of the blood-brain barrier: powerful tools in glioma treatment. Neurooncol Adv. 2025 Jan 15;7(1):vdae201. doi: 10.1093/noajnl/vdae201. eCollection 2025. PMID: 39877748 

Gould A, Luan Y, Hou Y, Korobova FV, Chen L, Arrieta VA, Amidei C, Ward R, Gomez C, Castro B, Habashy K, Zhang D, Youngblood M, Dmello C, Bebawy J, Bouchoux G, Stupp R, Canney M, Yue F, Iruela-Arispe ML, Sonabend AM. Endothelial Response to Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in the Human Brain. JCI Insight. 2024 Dec 26:e187328. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.187328. PMID: 39724015 

Erickson NJ, Stavarache M, Ibrahim T, Kaplitt MG, Markert JM. Herpes Simplex Oncolytic Viral Therapy for Malignant Glioma and Mechanisms of Delivery. World Neurosurg. 2024 Dec 20:123595. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2024.123595. PMID: 39710201 

Mekers V, de Visser M, Suijkerbuijk K, Bos C, Moonen C, Deckers R, Adema G. Mechanical HIFU and immune checkpoint inhibition: toward clinical implementation. Int J Hyperthermia. 2024;41(1):2430333. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2024.2430333. Epub 2024 Nov 20.PMID: 39566471  

Huang Q, Zhou Y, Pan L, Chen Y, Wang N, Li K, Bai J, Ji X. Experimental Evaluation of an Ultrasound-Guided High-Intensity-Focused Ultrasound Probe for Sonication of Artery. J Ultrasound Med. 2024 Dec;43(12):2357-2373. doi: 10.1002/jum.16571. Epub 2024 Sep 6. PMID: 39240034 

Chen H, Anastasiadis P, Woodworth GF. MR Imaging-Guided Focused Ultrasound-Clinical Applications in Managing Malignant Gliomas. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am. 2024 Nov;32(4):673-679. doi: 10.1016/j.mric.2024.05.006. Epub 2024 Jun 22. PMID: 39322356 

Martinez PJ, Song JJ, Castillo JI, DeSisto J, Song KH, Green AL, Borden M. Effect of Microbubble Size, Composition, and Multiple Sonication Points on Sterile Inflammatory Response in Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Blood-Brain Barrier Opening. ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2024 Nov 5. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.4c00777. PMID: 39497639 

Epstein JE, Pople CB, Meng Y, Lipsman N. An update on the role of focused ultrasound in neuro-oncology. Curr Opin Neurol. 2024 Dec 1;37(6):682-692. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000001314. Epub 2024 Oct 4. PMID: 39498847 

Gupta D, Kaovasia TP, Komaiha M, Nielsen JF, Allen SP, Hall TL, Noll DC, Xu Z. Transcranial MRI-guided Histotripsy Targeting Using MR-thermometry and MR-ARFI. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2024 Nov 25:S0301-5629(24)00406-X. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2024.10.010. PMID: 39592380 

Xu S, Meng L, Hu Q, Li F, Zhang J, Kong N, Xing Z, Hong G, Zhu X. Closed-Loop Control of Macrophage Engineering Enabled by Focused-Ultrasound Responsive Mechanoluminescence Nanoplatform for Precise Cancer Immunotherapy. Small. 2024 Nov;20(46):e2401398. doi: 10.1002/smll.202401398. Epub 2024 Aug 5. PMID: 39101277 

Ahmed AK, Woodworth GF, Gandhi D. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound: A History of Our Future. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am. 2024 Nov;32(4):585-592. doi: 10.1016/j.mric.2024.04.002. Epub 2024 Jul 25. PMID: 39322349 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Video courtesy of Insightec

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Breast Cancer
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 breast cancer. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One mechanism is precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue). The goal could be complete ablation of the cancer, or it can be done partially. Partial ablation may help awaken the immune system for a more generalized response. A second mechanism is to promote the targeted release of therapeutic treatments in the region of the tumor.

Benign Breast Disease 
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 benign breast tumors. Most of the work done has been on breast fibroadenoma. 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 breast fibroadenoma to be treated without surgery. 

Benefits

Current treatment options for breast cancer include combinations of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and immunotherapy. Less invasive surgical options such as radiofrequency ablation, cryotherapy, and laser ablation are gaining traction as alternatives to open surgeries as they afford the patient improved cosmetic results and decreased morbidity. Focused ultrasound — used alone or in combination with other therapies — is now treating breast cancer given the benefits that are afforded to the patient.

Advantages:

• Noninvasive – no incisions, no risk of infection or bleeding, less pain, and rapid recovery
• Image-guided – precision targeting and minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue
• No ionizing radiation – fewer side effects and can be safely repeated
• Targeted delivery of drugs and other therapeutic agents – increasing effectiveness and decreasing toxicity
• Initiation of an anti-tumor immune response – destruction of tumor cells leads to exposure of tumor antigens, which can then be recognized and targeted by the body’s immune system
• Directly enhances the effectiveness of immuno-oncology drugs

Regulatory Authorizations

The Model JC system manufactured by Chongqing Haifu has been approved in Europe, Russia, and China treatment of breast cancer.

Focused ultrasound treatment for patients with breast disease is not universally reimbursed by medical insurers.

Clinical Trials

Breast Cancer
A clinical trial in Canada is combining the use of radiation therapy with focused ultrasound for patients with advanced breast cancer.

A clinical trial in New York is treating benign and stage 1 malignant breast tumors.

A clinical trial is evaluating the use of high-intensity focused ultrasound combined with gemcitabine in patients with stage I-III breast cancer at the University of Virginia. This is a treatment followed by surgical resection.

A clinical trial in Utah is recruiting patients with breast cancer for focused ultrasound treatment. This is a treatment followed by surgical resection.

A clinical trial in China is using high intensity focused ultrasound with multiple other therapeutic agents in an effort to treat patients with triple negative breast cancer.  

A clinical trial in China is using high intensity focused ultrasound for treatment of breast cancer patients. 

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/.  

Benign Breast Disease
A clinical trial in New York is using focused ultrasound to treat breast fibroadenoma. 

A multi-site clinical trial is being conducted using focused ultrasound to treat breast fibroadenoma.  

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/.    

See a list of treatment sites >
See a list of laboratory research sites >

Preclinical Laboratory Studies

Preclinical studies are underway to investigate the use of non-ablation mechanisms of focused ultrasound in the treatment of breast disease. Examples of these studies include:

• *Improving of bioeffects during FUS-microbubble treatments (University of Virginia)
• *Targeting immunosuppressive myeloid cells to increase the efficacy of thermally ablative FUS in breast cancer (University of Virginia)
• *Focused ultrasound stimulation of the immune response in a breast cancer model (Inserm LabTAU,France)
• *Preclinical HIFU treatment of breast adenocarcinoma using a non-invasive toroidal transducer (Inserm LabTAU, France)
• *Biomechanical modulation of inflammation with FUS for breast cancer therapy (Vanderbilt University)
• *Turning Up the Heat: Using Focused Ultrasound to Shift the Immunosuppressive Breast Cancer Tumor Microenvironment from “Cold” to “Hot”, Augmenting Systemic Anti-Tumor Immune Activation (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

*The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is partially or fully funding these studies.

Additional Resources

American Cancer Society
National Cancer Institute
Blog: Beating Breast Cancer – My Hope for Focused Ultrasound

Help us revolutionize treatment for breast cancer by funding studies that will develop strategies for both early-and later-stage disease.
See the case statement >

Manufacturers

• Changjiangyuan Technology Development Co., Ltd. | Beijing, China | www.shubodao.com
• Chongqing Haifu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. | Chongqing, China | www.haifumedical.com
• Image Guided Therapy, SA. | Pessac. France | www.imageguidedtherapy.com
• INSIGHTEC, Ltd. | Haifa, Israel | www.insightec.com/us
• Profound Medical | Ontario, Canada | www.profoundmedical.com
• Shanghai A&S Science Technology Development Co., Ltd. | Shanghai, China
• Theraclion | Malakoff, France | www.theraclion.com

Media & Videos

For Breast Cancer, Can Focused Ultrasound Overcome Immunotherapy’s Limitations?
UVA Health – November 21, 2023

Focused ultrasound ablation for treatment of breast tumors
Healthcare-in-europe – January 18, 2023

Battling Breast Cancer with High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound
Excited By The Science by Edanz – July 3, 2023

New procedure to ‘kill’ breast lumps without surgery could be available in a few years
Today – October 26, 2023

Advancing Immunotherapy’s Reach With Focused Ultrasound
UVAHealth – October 17, 2023

Notable Papers

Huang X, Luo X, Su T, Su K, Peng S, Li H. Manganese-based metal-organic frameworks augment postoperative immunotherapy of high-intensity focused ultrasound. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2026 Apr 15;708:139847. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2026.139847. Epub 2026 Jan 6. PMID: 41518922 

Wang H, Ning W, Wang H, Li H and Zhang G (2026) Acupoint glucocorticoid injection combined with focused ultrasound for granulomatous lobular mastitis: a retrospective study. Front. Surg. 13:1715357. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2026.1715357 

Li X, Li H, Mu C, Li H, Du Q, Liu W. Therapeutic effect of Xihuang capsules in combination with low-power high-intensity focused ultrasound on granulomatous mastitis and its impact on macrophage (CD68) and proliferative (Ki67) markers. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2025 Nov-Dec;38(6):2453-2461. doi: 10.36721/PJPS.2025.38.6.REG.15239.1. PMID: 41334659. 

Zou X, Li S, Jin Z, Huang S, Niu R, Fu N, Li W, Gao J, Wang Z. An Injectable Thermosensitive Hydrogel Codelivering Permeability-Promoting Nintedanib-loaded Phase-transition Nanoparticles and Doxorubicin to Potentiate Immunogenic Cell Death in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer for Chemoimmunotherapy. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2026 Feb 21. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5c26337. PMID: 41721732 

Adams-Tew SI, Johnson A, Crockett J, Adams KE, Parker DL, Winkler N, Payne A. Impact of breast biopsy markers on magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound. Int J Hyperthermia. 2026 Dec;43(1):2632351. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2026.2632351. Epub 2026 Feb 23. PMID: 41725365 

Liu Y, Hu S, Munot S, Konofagou EE. 3-D Handheld Harmonic Motion Imaging System for Breast Tumor Assessment: A Clinical Feasibility Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2026 Jan 27:S0301-5629(26)00001-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2026.01.001. PMID: 41605726 

Wu X, Pan F, Xiao Y, Chen M, Yin H, Mu D, Yang L, Yang H, Chen W, Zhang C. Factors influencing the volume reduction rate of ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound for breast fibroadenoma. Int J Hyperthermia. 2026 Dec;43(1):2610775. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2610775. Epub 2026 Jan 8. PMID: 41506619 

Feng J, Tong Y, Zhang Z, He Y. Case Report: Pathological complete response yet early brain relapse in HER2-positive breast cancer: a case-based review. Front Immunol. 2026 Jan 5;16:1668995. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1668995. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41562063 

Zhou Y, Huang X, Su T, Su K, Peng S, Li H. Hypoxia-specific metal-organic frameworks combined with lactate immunometabolism regulation augment anti-tumor immunity of HIFU. Mater Today Bio. 2025 Dec 15;36:102695. doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2025.102695. eCollection 2026 Feb. PMID: 41509979 

Hu S, Liu Y, Wang R, Li X, Konofagou EE. A Multimodal Ultrasound-Driven Approach for Automated Tumor Assessment With B-Mode and Multi-Frequency Harmonic Motion Images. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2026 Feb;73(2):498-509. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2025.3586250. PMID: 40614147 

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 

Su X, Wang Y, Qin X, Xiao Y, Ouyang B, Hu L, Kang L, Xu R, Xu C, Sun Z, Sun C, Guo H, Pang Z, Shen S. HIFU-Driven Targeted Pyroptosis Therapy in Basal-Like Breast Cancer. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 Nov;12(44):e03830. doi: 10.1002/advs.202503830. Epub 2025 Sep 14. PMID: 40946176 

Lee SN, Choi JH, Moon H, Kim D, Hong J, Lee HJ, Lim YT. Focused ultrasound-triggered doxorubicin liposomes reshape tumor microenvironment to boost checkpoint depletion in triple-negative breast cancer model. J Control Release. 2025 Dec 10;388(Pt 2):114389. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114389. Epub 2025 Nov 4. PMID: 41197832 

Zhou D, Mu D, Lin Z, Ren Y, Zhou Y, Liu H, Zhu L, Luo J, Li M, Li C, Li F. Ultrasound radiomics-based nomogram to predict the non-perfused volume ratio of breast fibroadenomas treated with ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound: a multicenter study. Int J Hyperthermia. 2025 Dec;42(1):2568624. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2568624. Epub 2025 Oct 9. PMID: 41069014 

Sengupta S, Bhattacharjee A, Basu B, Kar S, Moulik S. Ultrasound-Mediated Nanocarrier-Based Drug Delivery in Breast Cancer Therapy: Innovations and Outlook. J Ultrasound Med. 2025 Nov 17. doi: 10.1002/jum.70117. PMID: 41247034 

Bates JG, Dillon CR, Jones MR, Tencer JT. Multifidelity Uncertainty Quantification for Focused Ultrasound Breast Cancer Therapies Using Reduced Order Models. ASME J Heat Mass Transf. 2025 Dec 1;147(12):121201. doi: 10.1115/1.4069124. Epub 2025 Aug 19. PMID: 41256765 

Alikarami S, Harandi H, Jahanshahi A, Zakavi SS, Frounchi N, Ghavam M, Momtazmanesh S. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Treatment of Primary Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Clin Ultrasound. 2025 Nov 24. doi: 10.1002/jcu.70143. PMID: 41287177 

Wang H, Wang H, Ning W, Zhang G, Guo Q, Li K. Retrospective cohort study on the effects of corticosteroid combined with focused ultrasound therapy on lesion size and inflammatory markers in patients with granulomatous mastitis. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2025;38(6):2229-2237. doi: 10.36721/PJPS.2025.38.6.REG.13937.1. PMID: 41139272

Click here for additional references from PubMed.  

Video courtesy of Insightec

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, radiation-free method to destroy prostate tissue and treat prostate disease. Using real-time image guidance, the physician directs a focused beam of ultrasound energy to a selected volume in the patient’s prostate gland.

How it Works
Focused ultrasound energy heats and destroys the targeted tissue at the focal point within seconds. This process is repeated until the entire selected volume or the entire gland is destroyed.

Benefits

Current treatment options for prostate cancer include surgery, radiation, cryotherapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy. These treatment options carry risks and unwanted side effects such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Focused ultrasound offers a treatment to patients with prostate cancer that carries fewer risks than conventional therapies. It may also be offered for patients with earlier stage disease where surgery is not yet recommended or as a salvage treatment for patients in which radiation has failed.

Advantages:

• Noninvasive – no incisions, no risk of infection or bleeding, less pain, and rapid recovery
• Image-guided – precision targeting with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue
• No ionizing radiation – fewer side effects and can be safely repeated

Regulatory Authorizations

Focused ultrasound devices have been cleared to treat the prostate in approximately 50 countries, including the United States. Several systems for focused ultrasound ablation of prostate tissue are available in various geographical regions, each differing in their guidance method (ultrasound vs. magnetic resonance imaging) and approach – transrectal or transurethral.

While the Foundation attempts to keep the list of sites complete, there have been many purchases of the focused ultrasound systems. For the latest information on availability, we recommend contacting the manufacturers’ directly or using their online search functions. 

There are four focused ultrasound manufacturers that are approved in the US for the ablation (destruction) of prostate tissue – Sonablate Corp.,  EDAP-TMS, Profound Medical, and Insightec. Sonablate and EDAP deliver care outside of the MRI facility, so they are found in surgery centers and surgical suites, as well as in hospitals. 

There are additional sites that use mobile focused ultrasound equipment. These sites may not be listed on the EDAP, Sonablate, or Profound Medical sites, and the best way to find them is to contact local urologists to see if they have focused ultrasound capability.

Reimbursement for primary treatment in the US has been lagging, and Medicare and most insurance companies are either covering a portion of the expense or not covering it at all. In the specific instance of salvage therapy after failed radiation, some Medicare providers and commercial insurance carriers are covering focused ultrasound use in this setting. As always, it is best to check with your specific carrier.

Clinical Trials

The PRISM clinical trial in New York is investigating the rates of recurrence after HIFU treatment.  

A second clinical trial in New York is evaluating clinical outcome for patients that have had HIFU treatment. 

A clinical trial in Florida is looking at patients quality of life outcomes, with localized radiorecurrent prostate cancer when treated with a the Focal One device.

A clinical trial in California is comparing treatment of prostate cancer with thermal ablation or with cryotherapy.  

A clinical trial in Southern California is comparing the outcomes for different focal therapy devices for treatment of prostate cancer.   

A registry for the TULSA-PRO is tracking patient outcomes for this device.

A multi-site clinical trial in the US, Canada and Finland is completing a randomized trial comparing the TULSA PRO to radical prostatectomy.   

A clinical trial in Ohio is comparing a single port robotic, partial prostatectomy to focused ultrasound in patients with prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in Southern California is evaluating quality of life questionnaires for patients that have had Sonablate treatments for prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in Bethesda, Maryland is evaluating patients who are having the Tulsa-Pro treatment for low volume and low grade prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in Minnesota is evaluating the use of the Tulsa-Pro for intermediate level patients who have prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in London, UK is doing a long term study of patients treated with the Sonablate system for prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in France is evaluating different methods of target analysis for treatment of patients with prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in the Netherlands is evaluating the focal therapy for patients with prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in Norway is comparing HIFU to active surveillance. 

A clinical trial in China is substitution focused ultrasound for one of the chemotherapies in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in China is comparing the quality of life outcomes from patient who had the Sonablate HIFU system to those that have had prostatectomy.  

A clinical trial in Singapore is evaluating a variety of focal therapies, including focused ultrasound, for the use in patients with prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial in France is organizing, and will look at the quality of life outcomes from patients who have had either total prostatectomy of focal therapy for prostate cancer.  

A clinical trial, the Jupiter Registry, is organizing in Europe for looking at 5 year outcomes after patients have had focal therapy for prostate 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/.

See a list of treatment sites >
See a list of laboratory research sites >

Manufacturers

EDAP TMS | Lyon, France | www.edap-tms.com
INSIGHTEC LTD | Tirat Carmel, Israel | www.insightec.com
Profound Medical | Ontario, Canada | www.profoundmedical.com
Sonablate Corp | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | www.sonablate.com

Media & Videos

Shreveport hospital first in region to offer noninvasive prostate cancer treatment
Shreveport Times – December 6, 2022

A new treatment option for men battling prostate cancer
ABC15 Arizona – November 15, 2022

WVXU: High-intensity focused ultrasound a new treatment option for men with prostate cancer
UC News – September 19, 2022

Alternative Approach Uses Sound Waves to Treat Prostate Cancer
UC San Diego Health – February 24, 2022

MRI-guided HIFU show strong potential in localized prostate cancer
Urology Times – February 4, 2021

Notable Papers 

Suggested Reading: Focused Ultrasound for Prostate Cancer Case Study (2021)

Roldan-Testillano R, Rodriguez-Sanchez L, Covarrubias C, Durazo-Ruiz F, Arezki A, Anidjar M, Sanchez-Salas R. Advances in focal therapy for prostate cancer: current modalities, outcomes, and future directions. Prostate Int. 2026 Mar;14(1):1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.prnil.2025.07.002. Epub 2025 Jul 14. PMID: 41908235 

Brazão ÉS Jr, Santos VE, Mourão TC, Gomes DC, Nobre JQC, Brazão GP, de Oliveira RAR, da Silva C, da Costa WH, Guimarães GC, Zequi SC. External validation of the cancer of the prostate risk assessment score to predict treatment failure after high-intensity focused ultrasound. Prostate Int. 2026 Mar;14(1):22-28. doi: 10.1016/j.prnil.2025.09.002. Epub 2025 Sep 12. PMID: 41908230 

Anceschi U, Tufano A, Tuderti G, Mastroianni R, D’Annunzio S, Ferriero MC, Proietti F, Capecchi L, Spadaro G, Iori M, Misuraca L, Lugnani F, Simone G. Predicting 1-Year Trifecta Outcomes After High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound and Cryoablation for Low- and Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer. Biomedicines. 2026 Mar 20;14(3):716. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines14030716. PMID: 41898360 

Anceschi U, Basile S, Misuraca L, Mastroianni R, D’Annunzio S, Proietti F, Bove AM, Prata F, Capecchi R, Spadaro G, Ferriero M, Lugnani F, Simone G. Hemigland cryoablation versus high-intensity focused ultrasound for localized prostate cancer: a propensity-weighted comparison of functional and oncologic outcomes. World J Urol. 2026 Mar 26;44(1):269. doi: 10.1007/s00345-026-06378-1. PMID: 41885967 

Zhu D, Malshy K, Cheng Z, Mali K, Shen M, Bandari J, Hollenberg GM, Weinberg EP, Frye TP. Comparison of the Prostate Imaging After Focal Ablation (PI-FAB) and Transatlantic Recommendations for Prostate Gland Evaluation (TARGET) for the Detection of In-Field Prostate Cancer Recurrence on Post-Focal Therapy Prostate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Clin Genitourin Cancer. 2026 Apr;24(3):102523. doi: 10.1016/j.clgc.2026.102523. Epub 2026 Feb 18. PMID: 41807146 

Velasquez EL, Titus RS, Mundra V, Riveros C, Miles B, Kaushik D, Abreu AL, Wallis CJD, Satkunasivam R. Real-world functional and oncologic outcomes of prostate gland ablation vs. standard of care therapies for localized prostate: A retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX database. Urol Oncol. 2026 Mar 1;44(5):111037. doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2026.111037. PMID: 41771218 

Biolatti LV, Ismail N, Devi A, Zhong J, Bleaney CW, Choudhury A. Unravelling Salvage Re-irradiation for Locally Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Challenges and Complexities. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2026 Apr;52:104071. doi: 10.1016/j.clon.2026.104071. Epub 2026 Jan 31. PMID: 41759222 

Ono Y, Kohada Y, Tasaka S, Miyamoto S, Hayashi T, Honda Y, Kitamura N, Tasaka R, Kobatake K, Sekino Y, Kitano H, Goto K, Goriki A, Hieda K, Kato M, Takeshima Y, Hinata N. Combining Prostate-Specific Antigen Density With PI-RADS to Improve the Detection of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer at MRI/TRUS Fusion-Targeted Re-Biopsy. Prostate. 2026 Apr;86(5):582-591. doi: 10.1002/pros.70117. Epub 2025 Dec 23. PMID: 41431453 

Watfa M, Soputro NA, Al-Bayati A, Daher K, Younis S, Rai S, Bernardino RM, Wang L, Schwen ZR, Olivares R, Autorino R, Kaouk J. Salvage Single-Port Transvesical Robotic Radical Prostatectomy Following High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Therapy. Int Braz J Urol. 2026;52(3):e20250744. doi: 10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2025.0744. PMID: 41643054 

Light A, Peters M, Arya M, Bertoncelli Tanaka M, Dudderidge T, Emara A, Emberton M, Grey A, Hindley R, Laniado M, McCraken S, Moore CM, Nigam R, Noureldin M, Orczyk C, Reddy D, Virdi J, Ahmed M, Albisinni S, Cathcart P, Joniau S, Karnes RJ, Persad R, Rajwa P, Sanchez-Salas R, Shariat SF, Smith JA, Tilki D, van der Poel H, Calleris G, Gontero P, Marra G, Ahmed HU, Shah TT. Salvage Focal Therapy vs Radical Prostatectomy for Localized Radiorecurrent Prostate Cancer. JAMA Oncol. 2026 Feb 12:e256448. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.6448. PMID: 41678176 

Lughezzani G, Celia A, Fasulo V, Marra G, Silvestri T, Vittori G, Stabile A, Mastroianni R, Branchi A, Falagario U, Simone G, Bove P, Iacovelli V, DE Luca S, Ficarra V, Minervini A, Salonia A, Mirone V, Carrieri G, Buffi NM, Lazzeri M, Lazzeri M. The Italian Society of Urology Statement on focal therapy for localized prostate cancer. Minerva Urol Nephrol. 2026 Feb;78(1):1-14. doi: 10.23736/S2724-6051.25.06851-X. PMID: 41697201 

Aksakal B, Soputro NA, Al-Bayati A, Secin M, Autorino R, Kaouk J, Olivares R. Telesurgery in prostate cancer: a systematic review of clinical applications and future directions. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2026 Feb 20. doi: 10.1038/s41391-026-01090-y. PMID: 41721057 

Cella L, Fasulo V, Moretto S, Beatrici E, Piccolini A, Avolio PP, Maffei D, Contieri R, Tallari A, Mallia V, Uleri A, Saita A, Hurle R, Casale P, Lazzeri M, Paciotti M, Buffi NM, Lughezzani G. Salvage robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy after targeted high-intensity focused ultrasound: a single-center study on feasibility, oncological and functional outcomes. Front Oncol. 2026 Feb 6;16:1711853. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1711853. eCollection 2026. PMID: 41727652 

Bitton RR, Vertosick E, Khandwala Y, Korol G, Vickers A, Ehdaie B, Sonn G, Ghanouni P. Optimizing prostate cancer treatment with MR-guided focused ultrasound: the role of expanded ablation-to-lesion volume ratio. Eur Radiol. 2026 Jan 16. doi: 10.1007/s00330-025-12217-5. PMID: 41540208 

Roldan-Testillano R, Rodriguez-Sanchez L, Rodríguez Socarrás ME, de Andrés Boville G, Durazo-Ruiz F, Gómez Rivas J, Alfambra Fernández H, Sánchez Macías J, Bianco FJ, Miñana López B, Sanchez-Salas R. The role of focal therapy for localized prostate cancer: From diagnosis to ablation. Actas Urol Esp (Engl Ed). 2026 Jan 5:501918. doi: 10.1016/j.acuroe.2026.501918. PMID: 41500454 

Dokania S, Aphale P, Shekhar H. Optimizing Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation for Localized Prostate Cancer: Lessons from Functional and Imaging Outcomes. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2026 Jan;37(1):107890. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2025.10.021. Epub 2025 Oct 28. PMID: 41167300 

Tricard T, Cazzato RL. Comments on Optimizing Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation for Localized Prostate Cancer: Lessons from Functional and Imaging Outcomes. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2026 Jan;37(1):107894. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2025.10.025. Epub 2025 Oct 27. PMID: 41161408 

Li H, Cai Z, He P, Wu Y, Lu L, Gao Y, Sun L, Huang L, Dong X, Liu Z. Mechanical destruction of canine prostate using a novel low-intensity histotripsy based on a perfluoropentane-filled sodium alginate scaffold. Int J Hyperthermia. 2025 Dec;42(1):2579893. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2579893. Epub 2025 Oct 29. PMID: 41158084 

Maurer A, Muehlematter UJ, Sivakumar T, Mortezavi A, Heimer J, Kaufmann B, Beintner-Skawran S, Messerli M, Huellner MW, Eberli D, Burger IA. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Prostate Cancer: Can PSMA PET Improve Focal Therapy Outcomes? J Nucl Med. 2025 Dec 4:jnumed.125.271318. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.125.271318. PMID: 41344858 

Collins K, Cheng L. Treatment-related changes in the prostate: past, present and future therapies. Histopathology. 2026 Jan;88(1):40-52. doi: 10.1111/his.15507. PMID: 41384710 

Koehler J, Lama D, Mendez M, Hsu WW, Oto A, Szmulewitz R, Sidana A. Phase II trial protocol of focal prostate ablation combined with androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer treatment. PLoS One. 2025 Dec 16;20(12):e0337828. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0337828. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41401176 

Mercier J, Bento L, Cassou-Mounat T, Prudhomme T, Lagarde S, Game X, Soulie M, Thoulouzan M, Bajeot AS, Roumiguie M. Post-HIFU surveillance of localized prostate cancer: role of PSMA-PET imaging versus the standard PSA-mpMRI protocol. World J Urol. 2025 Dec 27;44(1):68. doi: 10.1007/s00345-025-06163-6. PMID: 41454965 

Yee CH, Chiu PK, Liu AQ, Wong HF, Chan WHC, Lo KL, Chan CK, Chan R, Cho CC, Hung HY, Teoh JYC, Ng CF. Multimodality focal therapy for prostate cancer: outcome of the à la carte approach in clinical practice. Prostate Int. 2025 Dec;13(4):201-206. doi: 10.1016/j.prnil.2025.03.006. Epub 2025 Mar 24. PMID: 41472926 

Korn SM, Qian Z, Zurl H, Piccolini A, Pohl KK, Xiao B, Lipsitz S, Zhang J, Kibel AS, Hübner NA, Moore CM, Shariat SF, Trinh QD, Cole AP. Claims-Based Analysis of National Utilization Patterns and Regional Variability of Prostate Cancer Ablative Therapies: A Medicare Study. J Endourol. 2025 Nov 18. doi: 10.1177/08927790251388065. PMID: 41253389 

Noun J, Blachman-Braun R, Lee E, Pinto PA. Focal Therapies for Localized Prostate Cancer. Urol Clin North Am. 2026 Feb;53(1):115-134. doi: 10.1016/j.ucl.2025.09.010. Epub 2025 Nov 5. PMID: 41265994 

Torres J, Accary V, Payen T, Delattre V, Lafon C. Acoustic focal characteristics of a transrectal phased array under heterogeneity and weak nonlinearity. J Acoust Soc Am. 2025 Nov 1;158(5):4146-4158. doi: 10.1121/10.0039947. PMID: 41283708 

Ehrengut C, Alberalar ND, Franz T, Horn LC, Blana A, Hadaschik B, Stolzenburg JU, Schlemmer HP, Ebel S, Timm Denecke S, Ganzer R, Schaudinn A. Evaluation of the TARGET score for MRI-based detection of prostate cancer recurrence in patients treated with HIFU hemiablation. Eur J Radiol. 2025 Nov 24;195:112572. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112572. PMID: 41319370 

Ivey MC, Deivasigamani S, Kotamarti S, Mottaghi M, Ghoreifi A, Adams ES, Jhaveri H, Robertson CN, Kruse DE, Kalisz KR, Marin D, Thomas SP, Polascik TJ, Gupta RT. External validation of inter-reader reliability of the Prostate Imaging after Focal Ablation (PI-FAB) scoring system following focal cryoablation and focal high-intensity focused ultrasound. Eur Radiol. 2025 Nov;35(11):7004-7012. doi: 10.1007/s00330-025-11513-4. Epub 2025 Apr 2. PMID: 40172640 

Kaplan-Marans E, Edwards C, West M, Katlowitz YE, Vazquez-Rivera K, Schulman A, Silver D. Cryotherapy and High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound: National Utilization Trends (2016-2022). Urol Pract. 2025 Nov;12(6):648-651. doi: 10.1097/UPJ.0000000000000856. Epub 2025 Jul 8. PMID: 40536487 

Yeh HT, Liu YY, Chang YL, Liu HY, Shen YC, Wang HJ, Chen YT, Chuang YC, Luo HL. 10-year oncological outcomes of EBRT versus HIFU for stage II prostate cancer: a multicenter Chang Gung research database (CGRD) study with inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW) analysis. Int Urol Nephrol. 2025 Oct 7. doi: 10.1007/s11255-025-04805-7. PMID: 41055797 

Khanal N, Marciniak MA, Daniel MC, Zhu L, Dumoulin C, Stringer K, Myers MR, Yarmolenko P, Banerjee RK. Assessing Fab-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles-Mediated Thermal Enhancement during High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation in a Mouse Tumor Model. ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2025 Oct 13. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.5c00879. PMID: 41081487 

Ploussard G, Baboudjian M, Barret E, Brureau L, Dariane C, Fiard G, Fromont G, Mathieu R, Olivier J, Neuzillet Y, Rozet F, Peyrottes A, Renard-Penna R, Sargos P, Supiot S, Turpin L, Roubaud G, Rouprêt M. French recommendations from the AFU Cancer Committee for prostate cancer: 2025 summary of changes. Fr J Urol. 2025 Oct 16;35(12):103010. doi: 10.1016/j.fjurol.2025.103010. PMID: 41109641 

Eskandar K. FocalONE high-intensity focused ultrasound for localized prostate cancer: A systematic review of oncologic outcomes, functional preservation, and technological evolution. Actas Urol Esp (Engl Ed). 2025 Oct 22:501869. doi: 10.1016/j.acuroe.2025.501869. PMID: 41135772 

Johnson K, Mehan R. Removal of Prostate Calcifications Prior to TULSA-PRO With the Aid of Real-Time Ultrasound Imaging: Our Technique and Experience. Cureus. 2025 Sep 23;17(9):e92995. doi: 10.7759/cureus.92995. eCollection 2025 Sep. PMID: 40994761 

Chang M, Lv J, Sun L, Chen A, Zhang F, Fan G, Liu Z, Li J, Shen H, Shi M, Niu Y, Tian Y, Liu X, Yang B. Cu-Mn Bimetallic Mesoporous Silica Nanosonosensitizers Enable Oxeiptosis-Mediated Sonodynamic Therapy for Ultra-Minimally Invasive Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2025 Sep 17;17(37):51820-51839. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5c12846. Epub 2025 Sep 5. PMID: 40911431 

Xiao B, Qian Z, Piccolini A, Dagnino F, Korn SM, Zurl H, Pohl KK, Stelzl DR, Moore CM, Wollin D, Trinh QD, Cole AP. Medicolegal landscape of prostate cancer ablative therapy: a national legal database analysis of malpractice claims (1970-2024). Int Urol Nephrol. 2025 Sep 9. doi: 10.1007/s11255-025-04766-x. PMID: 40926180 

Scherer TP, Lazos AG, Sonderer J, Kaufmann B, Schmid FA, Jenewein J, Rupp NJ, Moch H, Eberli D, Mortezavi A. Anxiety and Health-related Quality of Life in Men with Prostate Cancer Undergoing Focal Therapy: A Prospective Single-arm Phase 2 Trial. Eur Urol Focus. 2025 Sep 9:S2405-4569(25)00253-6. doi: 10.1016/j.euf.2025.08.006. PMID: 40930919 

Khanal N, Summey V, Bailey J, Duan X, Zheng Y, Zhu L, Stringer K, Rao M, Banerjee RK. Development of Mouse-Tumor Model Using Prostate Cancer (PC3) Cell Line for High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Ablation. Prostate Cancer. 2025 Sep 6;2025:5678314. doi: 10.1155/proc/5678314. eCollection 2025. PMID: 40950564 

Cormio A, Castellani D. Editorial Comment on “Medium-Term Outcomes after Primary Whole-Gland High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer: A Single-Center Experience”. J Endourol. 2025 Jul 3. doi: 10.1089/end.2025.0425. PMID: 40608541 

Wenzel M, Nathan A, Covas Moschovas M, Wagner C, Calleris G, Di Maida F, Gomez Rivas J, Bravi CA, De Groote R, Piramide F, Turri F, Kowalczyk K, Würnschimmel C, Sharma G, Andras I, Lambert E, Liakos N, Darlington D, Paciotti M, Sorce G, Mandel P, Galfano A, Nathan S, Marra G, Dell’Oglio P, Mottrie A, Chun FKH, Patel V, Breda A, Larcher A. Oncological Outcomes After Robotic Salvage Radical Prostatectomy in Patients Primarily Treated With Focal Versus Radiation Therapy: A Junior ERUS/YAU Collaborative Study. Prostate. 2025 Jul 23. doi: 10.1002/pros.70020. PMID: 40702693 

Lepine HL, Vicentini FC, Filho CM, Cavalcante G, Llata FM, Júnior JB, Reis LO, Mota JM, Nahas WC, Ribeiro-Filho LA, Suartz CV. Evaluating less-invasive strategies for localized prostate cancer: a comparative meta-analysis on high-intensity focused ultrasound versus radical prostatectomy. Int Urol Nephrol. 2025 Jul 31. doi: 10.1007/s11255-025-04695-9. PMID: 40742653 

Shee K, Pace WA, Liu AW, Cowan JE, Subramanyam V, Agapito C, Washington SL 3rd, Cooperberg MR, Carroll PR, Shinohara K, Nguyen HG. Determining Optimal Patient Selection for High-intensity Focused Ultrasound for Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol Focus. 2025 Aug 2:S2405-4569(25)00174-9. doi: 10.1016/j.euf.2025.06.007. PMID: 40754483 

Rosnitskiy PB, Thomas GPL, Lee GL, Khokhlova VA, Sapozhnikov OA, Schade GR, Morrison KP, Chavez F, Khokhlova TD. A Fully Populated Transrectal Array for Boiling Histotripsy Ablation of the Prostate. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2025 Aug 7;PP. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3596780. PMID: 40773382 

Kaneko M, Ramacciotti LS, Inoue Y, Peretsman S, Cummins J, Cai J, Halteh P, Palmer S, Aron M, Ukimura O, Gill IS, Abreu AL. Impact of magnetic resonance imaging visibility of prostate cancer on partial gland ablation. BJUI Compass. 2025 Aug 6;6(8):e70065. doi: 10.1002/bco2.70065. eCollection 2025 Aug. PMID: 40777065 

Katano A, Minamitani M, Sawayanagi S, Yamashita H. Salvage Radiation Therapy for Localised Prostate Cancer Recurrence Following High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Failure. J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2025 Aug 15. doi: 10.1111/1754-9485.70009. PMID: 40817649 

Artiles Medina A, Tagalos Muñoz A, Domínguez Gutiérrez A, Muriel García A, Subiela JD, Álvarez Díaz N, Fernández Conejo G, Gómez Dos Santos V, Coloma Del Peso A, Burgos Revilla FJ. Outcomes of Active Treatment for Localised Prostate Cancer After Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Eur Urol Open Sci. 2025 Aug 11;79:111-127. doi: 10.1016/j.euros.2025.07.011. eCollection 2025 Sep. PMID: 40837058 

Pyrgidis N, Chaloupka M, Ebner B, Volz Y, Weinhold P, Marcon J, Eismann L, Stief CG, Schulz GB, Apfelbeck M. Perioperative complications of focal therapy for prostate cancer: results from the GeRmAn Nationwide inpatient Data (GRAND) study. BJU Int. 2025 Aug;136(2):306-313. doi: 10.1111/bju.16746. Epub 2025 Apr 19. PMID: 40251973 

Creta M, Shariat SF, Marra G, Gontero P, Rossanese M, Morra S, Teoh J, Kishan AU, Karnes RJ, Longo N. Local salvage therapies in patients with radio-recurrent prostate cancer following external beam radiotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2025 Sep;28(3):578-591. doi: 10.1038/s41391-024-00883-3. Epub 2024 Sep 2. PMID: 39223232 

Séguier D, Puech P, Barret E, Leroy X, Labreuche J, Penna RR, Ploussard G, Villers A, Olivier J. MRI accuracy for recurrence after partial gland ablation with HIFU for localized prostate cancer. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2025 Sep;28(3):592-600. doi: 10.1038/s41391-024-00885-1. Epub 2024 Sep 10. PMID: 39256551 

Shoji S, Naruse J, Ohno S, Aoki M, Takahashi K, Yuzuriha S, Kuroda S, Umemoto T, Nakajima N, Hasegawa M, Kawamura Y, Kajiwara H, Hashida K, Uemura K, Hasebe T, Tajiri T. Focal therapy using high-intensity focused ultrasound with intraoperative prostate compression for patients with localized prostate cancer: a multi-center prospective study with 7 year experience. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2025 Sep;28(3):782-788. doi: 10.1038/s41391-024-00921-0. Epub 2024 Nov 23. PMID: 39580599 

Taratkin M, Androsov A, Morozov A, Azilgareeva C, Rivas JG, Puliatti S, Checcucci E, Belenchon IR, Kowalewski KF, Rodler S, Piazza P, Baekelandt L, Veccia A, De Backer P, Fajkovic H, Enikeev D, Cacciamani GE. Urinary Outcomes of Minimally Invasive Treatments for Prostate Cancer-A Systematic Review by Young Academic Urologists’ Urotechnology Working Group. J Endourol. 2025 Jun 10. doi: 10.1089/end.2024.0129. PMID: 40491395 

Piramide F, Veccia A, Tzelves L, Nikles S, Ortega Polledo LE, Nocera L, Khelif A, Dumbovic L, Lazarou L, Cisero E, Quarà A, Sterrantino A, Falagario U, Piazza P, Baekealndt L, Carrion DM, Gomez Rivas J, Cacciamani G, Checcucci E. Sexual function outcomes in men undergoing minimal invasive ablative techniques for prostate cancer: a ESRU/YAU urotech systematic review and pooled analysis. Minerva Urol Nephrol. 2025 Jun;77(3):285-297. doi: 10.23736/S2724-6051.25.06007-0. PMID: 40528769 

Shoji S, Takahashi K, Naruse J, Kawamura Y. Frontiers of Ultrasound Technology in Prostate Cancer Treatment. Int J Urol. 2025 Jun 22. doi: 10.1111/iju.70160. PMID: 40545780 

Sotoudehnia S, Leung BYC, Thompson SM, Adamo DA, Mynderse LA, Woodrum DA. Saline Displacement of Rectal Wall for Improved Margin During MRI-Guided Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation (TULSA). Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2025 Jun 24. doi: 10.1007/s00270-025-04102-x. PMID: 40555770 

Bhattarai R, McKenney JK, Alaghehbandan R, Liu X, Cox RM, Myles JL, Przybycin CG, Williamson SR, Weight CJ, Schwen Z, Nguyen JK. Atypical Intraductal Proliferation in Prostate Needle Core Biopsy: Validation as a Marker of Unsampled Adverse Pathology in a Clinicopathologic Series of 142 New Patients. Am J Surg Pathol. 2025 May 1;49(5):515-522. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000002376. Epub 2025 Feb 25. PMID: 39995242 

Rischmann P, Occéan BV, Ploussard G. Reply to Mario Terlizzi, Youssef Ghannam, and Pierre Blanchard’s Letter to the Editor re: Guillaume Ploussard, Patrick Coloby, Thierry Chevallier, et al. Whole-gland or Subtotal High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Versus Radical Prostatectomy: The Prospective, Noninferiority, Nonrandomized HIFI Trial. Eur Urol. 2025;87:526-533. Eur Urol. 2025 May;87(5):e92. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2025.02.018. Epub 2025 Mar 6. PMID: 40055030 

Brazão ÉS Jr, Oliveira RAR, Zanotti RR, Gomes DC, Mourão TC, Santos VE, da Silva C, Santana TBM, da Costa WH, Guimarães GC, Zequi SC. Medium-Term Outcomes after Primary Whole-Gland High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer: A Single-Center Experience. J Endourol. 2025 May;39(5):500-508. doi: 10.1089/end.2024.0539. Epub 2025 Mar 26. PMID: 40135250 

Schröer S, Glandorf J, Düx D, Horstmann D, Gutt M, Belker O, Peters I, Hellms S, Wacker F, Hensen B, Gutberlet M. Improving necrosis estimation in MR-guided prostate focused ultrasound ablations with a probabilistic thermal dose model. Comput Biol Med. 2025 Jun;192(Pt B):110225. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2025.110225. Epub 2025 May 16. PMID: 40381478 

Viitala A, Anttinen M, Mäkelä P, Pärssinen H, Nurminen P, Sainio T, Saunavaara J, Taimen P, Sequeiros RB, Boström PJ. Magnetic resonance imaging-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation for benign prostatic obstruction: 1-year clinical outcomes of a phase II study. BJU Int. 2025 May 28. doi: 10.1111/bju.16795. PMID: 40432395 

Zhou H, Tang J, Wan Y, Gong J, Wang Q, Huang K, Hong R, Xu X, Li F. Platform-based BST-2-targeted microbubbles enhance HIFU therapy and effectively inhibit prostate cancer residual growth. Int J Hyperthermia. 2025 Dec;42(1):2511035. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2511035. Epub 2025 May 28. PMID: 40436774 

Tricard T, Cazzato RL, Schroeder A, De Mathelin M, Barhoumi C, Gaillard V, Sauleau E, Gangi A, Lang H. Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation of Localized Prostate Cancer (MRI-TULSA): A Prospective Trial. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2025 May 27:S1051-0443(25)00385-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2025.05.024. PMID: 40441432 

Viani GA, Hamamura AC. Re: Guillaume Ploussard, Patrick Coloby, Thierry Chevallier, et al. Whole-gland or Subtotal High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Versus Radical Prostatectomy: The Prospective, Noninferiority, Nonrandomized HIFI Trial. Eur Urol. In press. Eur Urol. 2025 May 30:S0302-2838(25)00204-0. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2025.02.032. PMID: 40450474 

Bertelli E, Vizzi M, Legato M, Nicoletti R, Paolucci S, Ruzga R, Giovannelli S, Sessa F, Serni S, Masieri L, Campi R, Neri E, Agostini S, Miele V. The Use of PI-FAB Score in Evaluating mpMRI After Focal Ablation of Prostate Cancer: Is It Reliable? Inter-Reader Agreement in a Tertiary Care Referral University Hospital. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Mar 20;17(6):1031. doi: 10.3390/cancers17061031. PMID: 40149364 

Ghai S, Ni TT, Pavlovich CP, Futterer JJ, Schade GR, Sanchez-Salas R, Cornud F, Eggener S, Feller JF, George AK, Villers A, de la Rosette J. New kids on the block: MRI guided transrectal focused US, TULSA, focal laser ablation, histotripsy – a comprehensive review. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2025 Mar 27. doi: 10.1038/s41391-025-00956-x. PMID: 40140552 

Brazão ÉS Jr, Oliveira RAR, Zanotti RR, Gomes DC, Mourão TC, Santos VE, da Silva C, Santana TBM, da Costa WH, Guimarães GC, Zequi SC. Medium-Term Outcomes after Primary Whole-Gland High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer: A Single-Center Experience. J Endourol. 2025 Mar 26. doi: 10.1089/end.2024.0539. PMID: 40135250 

Engelage L, Muschter R. Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation for Treatment of Localized Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). J Endourol. 2025 Mar;39(S1):S23-S26. doi: 10.1089/end.2024.0301. PMID: 40100835 

Ajami T, Williams A, Ryan JT, Prakash NS, Khandekar A, Sureshkumar K, Ritch CR, Gonzalgo ML, Punnen S, Parekh DJ, Nahar B. Use of biochemical and imaging criteria for selecting patients for prostate biopsy in recurrence risk assessment post-HIFU therapy. World J Urol. 2025 Mar 12;43(1):162. doi: 10.1007/s00345-025-05529-0. PMID: 40072595 

Pausch AM, Elsner C, Rupp NJ, Eberli D, Hötker AM. Comparative analysis of TARGET and PI-FAB scores in mpMRI surveillance after HIFU therapy for localized prostate cancer. Eur J Radiol. 2025 Mar 4;186:112028. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112028. PMID: 40058174 

Terlizzi M, Ghannam Y, Blanchard P. Re: Guillaume Ploussard, Patrick Coloby, Thierry Chevallier, et al. Whole-gland or Subtotal High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Versus Radical Prostatectomy: The Prospective, Noninferiority, Nonrandomized HIFI Trial. Eur Urol. In press. Eur Urol. 2025 Mar 4:S0302-2838(25)00121-6. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2025.01.027. PMID: 40044505 

Baude J, Teyssier C, Barbier V, Tremeaux JC, Azélie C, Lépinoy A, Henry PC, Bailly V, Lescut N, Lagneau E, Schipman B. Salvage radiotherapy with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for recurrent prostate cancer after high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU): A large French retrospective series and literature review. Radiother Oncol. 2025 Feb;203:110665. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2024.110665. Epub 2024 Dec 15. PMID: 39681174 

Hedhli O, Marra G, Karam G, Glemain P, Chelghaf I, De Vergie S, Perrouin Verbe MA, Biancone L, Gontero P, Bouchot O, Rigaud J, Branchereau J. Prostate cancer in solid organ transplant recipients: Results from a multicenter series. Fr J Urol. 2025 Mar;35(2):102841. doi: 10.1016/j.fjurol.2024.102841. Epub 2024 Dec 4. PMID: 39643043 

Sidana A, Lazarovich A, Tayebi S, Huron A, Blank F, Tobler J, Verma S, Hsu WW. Prostate ablation for the management of localized prostate cancer. Urol Oncol. 2025 Mar;43(3):194.e9-194.e17. doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2024.11.009. Epub 2024 Nov 26. PMID: 39592359 

Kumar R, Ghai S, Finelli A, Klotz L, Kinnaird A, Mannas M, Bhindi B, Sanchez-Salas R, Anidjar M, Ahmad A, Chin J, Inman B, Perlis N. The use of focal therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer in Canada Where are we, how did we get here, and where are we going? Can Urol Assoc J. 2025 Feb;19(2):63-72. doi: 10.5489/cuaj.8888. PMID: 39418491 

Tamburini S, Bianchi L, Piazza P, Mottaran A, Ercolino A, Rotaru V, Pirelli V, Presutti M, Droghetti M, Schiavina R, Brunocilla E. Current role of focal therapy in prostate cancer. Urologia. 2025 Feb;92(1):67-74. doi: 10.1177/03915603241258713. Epub 2024 Nov 14. PMID: 39540262 

Rischmann P, Occéan BV, Ploussard G. Reply to Jason Koehler and Abhinav Sidana’s Letter to the Editor re: Guillaume Ploussard, Patrick Coloby, Thierry Chevallier, et al. Whole-gland or Subtotal High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Versus Radical Prostatectomy: The Prospective, Noninferiority, Nonrandomized HIFI Trial. Eur Urol. In press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2024.11.006. Eur Urol. 2025 Feb 6:S0302-2838(25)00062-4. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2025.01.022. PMID: 39920006 

Bochner E, Schulte V, Lotan Y, Meng X, Costa DN. Feasibility and Short-Term Safety of Hydrogel Spacer before Treatment with Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation for Prostate Cancer Treatment. J Endourol. 2025 Feb 10. doi: 10.1089/end.2024.0700. PMID: 39925110 

Montorsi F, Gandaglia G, Stabile A. Re: Guillaume Ploussard, Patrick Coloby, Thierry Chevallier, et al. Whole-gland or Subtotal High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Versus Radical Prostatectomy: The Prospective, Noninferiority, Nonrandomized HIFI Trial. Eur Urol. In press. Eur Urol. 2025 Feb 15:S0302-2838(25)00063-6. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2025.01.023. PMID: 39956725 

Hsieh PF, Naruse J, Yuzuriha S, Umemoto T, Huang CP, Shoji S. Combining Percentage Prostate-Specific Antigen Reduction and Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Reduce Unnecessary Biopsy After Focal Therapy With High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Prostate Cancer. Int J Urol. 2025 Feb 19. doi: 10.1111/iju.70013. PMID: 39968685 

Matsuoka Y. Editorial Comment to “Combining Percentage Prostate-Specific Antigen Reduction and Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Reduce Unnecessary Biopsy After Focal Therapy With High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Prostate Cancer“. Int J Urol. 2025 Feb 27. doi: 10.1111/iju.70031. PMID: 40012537 

Muhler P, Akuamoa-Boateng D, Rosenbrock J, Stock S, Müller D, Heidenreich A, Simões Corrêa Galendi J. Cost-utility analysis of MR imaging-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation for the treatment of low- to intermediate-risk localised prostate cancer. BMJ Open. 2025 Jan 11;15(1):e088495. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088495. PMID: 39800402 

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Su S, Wang Y, Lo EM, Tamukong P, Kim HL. High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation to increase tumor-specific lymphocytes in prostate cancer. Transl Oncol. 2025 Jan 24;53:102293. doi: 10.1016/j.tranon.2025.102293. PMID: 39862483 

Koehler J, Sidana A. Re: Guillaume Ploussard, Patrick Coloby, Thierry Chevallier, et al. Whole-gland or Subtotal High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Versus Radical Prostatectomy: The Prospective, Noninferiority, Nonrandomized HIFI Trial. Eur Urol. In press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2024.11.006. Eur Urol. 2025 Jan 24:S0302-2838(25)00021-1. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2024.12.021. PMID: 39863507 

Koehler J, Lazarovich A, Tayebi S, Viswanath V, George A, Hsu WW, Sidana A. Shifting tides: A survey analysis of urologists’ evolving attitudes toward focal therapy for prostate cancer. Indian J Urol. 2025;41(1):59-65. doi: 10.4103/iju.iju_239_24. Epub 2025 Jan 1. PMID: 39886635 

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Video courtesy of SonaCare Medical

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 soft tissue tumors. Some soft tissue tumors have had significant progress in their development, and thus had their own listing. See Basal Cell Carcinoma, Actinic Keratosis, Sarcoma- (both osteo and non-osteo types). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic 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 several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One is precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue). This destruction can be done to completely destroy the target or to partially treat it. Partial treatment is believed to stimulate the patient’s immune response, which may have a broader impact. The Toosonix device is specifically designed to help with very superficial tumors. Another mechanism is to produce local hyperthermia of the targeted tissue, which can have a variety of beneficial effects including the release of chemotherapy drugs that are contained in temperature sensitive therapeutic molecules. This allows delivery of a higher level of chemotherapy precisely to the targeted tissue, while limiting the effects for the rest of the body.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of soft tissue tumors include surgery with possible chemotherapy or radiation.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.

Primary Soft Tissue Tumors
The primary (intrinsic to the soft tissue) tumors can be benign or malignant. Most of the research with benign tumors had been done with desmoid tumors, which are benign but aggressive tumors that have been treated with focused ultrasound on some anecdotal cases with good results. (See “Desmoid Tumors” for more information.)

There are a variety of malignant soft tissue tumors including multiple types of sarcomas and other connective tissue diseases. There are clinical trials (listed below) for refractory or relapsed malignant tumors.

There has been CE approval in Europe for a company in Denmark called TOOsonix. They have treated Actinic Keratosis, Basal Cell Carcinoma, as well as other dermatologic conditions.

Secondary Soft Tissue Tumors
The secondary tumors that are found in the soft tissue most commonly come from the skin, lung, breast, kidney, colon and rectum. These malignancies are becoming the target in clinical trials, particularly in the pediatric and young adult population.

Advantages:

• Focused ultrasound is noninvasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.
• In some uses, there is an enhanced chemotherapeutic dose for the target, with less impact on the rest of the patient.
• Focused ultrasound is radiation free.
• It can be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

A clinical trial for basal cell carcinoma has begun in Denmark.

A clinical trial for sarcoma has begun in Oxford, UK.

A clinical trial for a number of recurrent solid tumors has begun recruiting patients at Children’s National in Washington, DC.  

A clinical trial registry is treating patients at UCSF, and looking at the use of histotripsy for outcomes measurements after standard clinical use of this procedure.   

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/.

See a list of treatment sites >
See a list of laboratory research sites >

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Regulatory & Reimbursement

The Model JC Haifu system has received regulatory approval in Europe, Russia, and China for treatment of soft tissue tumors, including sarcomas. At present, focused ultrasound is not universally reimbursed for treatment of soft tissue sarcomas.

Patient Advocacy

Several organizations worldwide support patients with soft tissue sarcomas. Among them are:

Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation, which encourages you to join the DTRF Patient Registry in order to facilitate research efforts. With access to your experience as a patient, researchers will be able to continue learning and making new discoveries in the field of desmoid tumors. If you have ever had a desmoid tumor, you can participate. For more information, visit http://dtrf.org/.

Sarcoma Alliance, which works to improve the lives of patients affected by sarcomas through better diagnostic accuracy, improved access to care, education, and support. For more information, visit www.sarcomaalliance.org.

Sarcoma Patients Euronet, which works with clinical experts, research scientists, industry, and others to improve treatment and care for sarcoma patients in Europe by increasing awareness and providing patients with support and information. For more information, visit www.sarcoma-patients.eu.

Notable Papers

Guo X, Zhu H, Liu W, Pan L, Fu B, Zhou Z, Zhang J, Zhou K. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for Soft Tissue Tumors in Challenging Anatomical Locations: Preliminary Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Dec 1:S0301-5629(25)00654-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.11.005. PMID: 41330845 

Kim J, Kim J, Lee DK, Shin EJ, Chang JH. High-Intensity focused ultrasound linear array and system for dermatology treatment. Ultrasonics. 2025 Jan;145:107477. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2024.107477. Epub 2024 Sep 19. PMID: 39332247 

Calik J, Zawada T, Sauer N, Bove T. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (20 MHz) and Cryotherapy as Therapeutic Options for Granuloma Annulare and Other Inflammatory Skin Conditions. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2024 May;14(5):1189-1210. doi: 10.1007/s13555-024-01163-7. Epub 2024 May 4. PMID: 38703308 

Long Z, Hesley GK, Lu A, Hangiandreou NJ, Gorny KR, Tiegs-Heiden CA. MRgFUS ablation of a recurrent tenosynovial giant cell tumor in the foot using ExAblate 2100 system in combination with patient immobilization device. Radiography (Lond). 2024 Apr 3;30(3):840-842. doi: 10.1016/j.radi.2024.03.010. PMID: 38574580 

Laganà AS, Romano A, Vanhie A, Bafort C, Götte M, Aaltonen LA, Mas A, De Bruyn C, Van den Bosch T, Coosemans A, Guerriero S, Haimovich S, Tanos V, Bongers M, Barra F, Al-Hendy A, Chiantera V, Leone Roberti Maggiore U. Management of Uterine Fibroids and Sarcomas: the Palermo Position Paper. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2024 Feb 21. doi: 10.1159/000537730. PMID: 38382486 

Click here for more references from PubMed.