Investigation of nanoparticle-assisted ultrasound therapy for treating implanted breast tumors in mice

Abstract

The presence of nanoparticles within an ultrasonic field has been previously shown to cause ultrasound to preferentially destroy cancerous cells over corresponding normal cells. Such treatment, termed nanoparticle-assisted ultrasound therapy (NAUT), has now been applied to subcutaneously implanted tumors in mice. Xenografted tumors were exposed to therapeutic ultrasound, with and without intratumoral injections of nanoparticles over a period of 4 weeks. Post-treatment, tumors that received nanoparticle injections were found to be substantially smaller than controls, suggesting that nanoparticle presence significantly increases the efficacy of ultrasonic treatment of solid tumors.