In a new study from The Institute of Cancer Research, researchers found combining targeted, focused ultrasound and immunotherapy drugs could work as a new treatment for pancreatic cancers.
They targeted pancreatic tumors with high-intensity focused pulses of ultrasound.
The technique uses a beam of focused sound waves to vibrate cells and tissues and has shown potential in the clinic as a cancer treatment.
In this study, the scientists used pulsed focused ultrasound, “pHIFU,” alongside injections of antibodies that mimic the effects of immune checkpoint inhibiting drugs.
Sometimes cancer cells evade attack from the immune system by using an immune cell brake, a ‘checkpoint’—preventing the immune system from doing its job.
Using immune checkpoint inhibitors releases this brake, allowing immune cells to attack cancer.
These immunotherapy drugs, such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab, are routinely used in the treatment of some cancers, but many patients—including most with pancreatic cancer—do not respond well to them.
However, combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with other treatments such as other drug types, radiotherapy or ultrasound could boost their effectiveness.
In the study, the team found that mice receiving the therapy combination lived longer than mice treated with neither or just one of the treatments, and performed better in several other measures of treatment effectiveness.
This study proves the potential of the combination more convincingly than previous studies in deep-lying tumors in organs such as the pancreas—as well as being the first-ever study to show the anti-cancer benefit of HIFU and immune checkpoint inhibition in pancreatic cancer.
This is the first-ever study to show the anti-cancer benefit of these two treatments, HIFU in combination with immunotherapy, in pancreatic cancer.
This study paves the way for clinical trials of treating pancreatic cancer patients with the therapy combo.
If you care about pancreatic cancer, please read studies about the stuff in your gut that could increase risk of pancreatic cancer, and new drug that offers hope for people with pancreatic cancer.
For more information about cancer risk, please see recent studies about how diabetes can increase cancer risk, and results showing this health problem can increase your risk of 10 common cancers.
The study is published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
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