Novel ultrasound device to treat Glioblastoma

Treating the brain cancer Glioblastoma is a formidable challenge as even the most potent chemotherapy is unable to break the blood-brain barrier to reach the aggressive tumor. The blood-brain barrier is a microscopic structure that shields the brain from the vast majority of circulating drugs. In a phenomenal in-human clinical trial, Northwestern Medicine scientists used a novel, skull-implantable ultrasound device to open the blood-brain barrier and repeatedly permeate large, critical regions of the human brain to deliver intravenously injected chemotherapy.

This is the first study to successfully quantify the effect of ultrasound-based blood-brain barrier opening on the concentrations of chemotherapy in the human brain, as also the first to describe how quickly the blood-brain barrier closes after sonication (typically in the first 30 to 60 minutes after sonication) The study findings are now the basis for an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.?

A landmark advancement in the treatment of glioblastoma,?the study also paves the way for evaluating novel drug-based treatments for various brain diseases.

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