Revolutionary Sound Wave Therapy Destroys Liver Cancer in First UK Patient, Offering Hope Without Traditional Treatments
London, UK – A groundbreaking new treatment utilizing focused sound waves has successfully eliminated liver cancer in a UK patient, marking a potential turning point in how the disease is tackled. The non-invasive procedure, called histotripsy, offers a path to recovery without the need for surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation – a prospect previously unimaginable for many.
Roger, a patient who battled cirrhosis, was among the first to benefit from the innovative therapy at St Mary’s Hospital in London.Facing a grim prognosis, he is now expressing profound gratitude after the treatment proved prosperous. ”I’m so grateful I could have it – I was luckily in the right place at the right time,” he stated.
Histotripsy works by precisely targeting cancerous tumors with focused ultrasound waves. A device is placed on the patient’s abdomen, above the liver, and utilizes the principle that ultrasound travels more effectively through liquids - in this case, water is used to displace air. These waves generate microscopic bubbles within the tissue surrounding the cancer cells.
As Dr. See explains, “The targeted sound waves create microscopic bubbles in the liquid within the tissue around the cancer cells. This mass of bubbles form and collapse thousands of times and, in effect, explode, which then destroys the cancer. But the surrounding tissue is unharmed.” The cancerous cells are then liquefied and naturally absorbed by the body over the course of a month or two, leaving only a small scar.
Remarkably, Roger’s procedure took just 20 minutes – significantly shorter than the minimum one hour required for ablation (a heat-based cancer destruction technique) and the two to six hours typically needed for surgery. A CT scan the day following the procedure confirmed the success, showing a mark were the ultrasound was directed, but no remaining signs of cancer.
Currently, histotripsy is approved for use on liver cancers. Though, promising trials are already underway in the United States to explore its potential request in treating pancreatic cancer.
Professor Stephen Ryder, a consultant hepatologist, highlights the increasing prevalence of liver cancer, potentially linked to “an increase in alcohol-related liver injury – made worse over the pandemic – and a rise in fatty liver disease, due to two-thirds of the population being overweight.” He describes histotripsy as “potentially a very interesting treatment because it doesn’t involve external trauma,” but cautions that further research is needed to determine the maximum size of tumors that can be effectively targeted and to assess long-term outcomes compared to existing methods like ablation. (Ablation cannot precede histotripsy, as the heat alters tissue structures, hindering accurate cancer cell identification.)
A second UK patient is scheduled to recieve histotripsy treatment later this month. Roger reports experiencing no symptoms or discomfort before or after the procedure, stating it felt “as if nothing had happened.” He will continue to attend regular check-ups but requires no ongoing medication.
