Exploding Microbubbles Destroy Cancer Cells
Research on cancer treatments has gotten increasingly creative, producing methods that are safer and less disruptive to the patient. A groundbreaking method coming out of Tel Aviv University is no different. Researchers discovered that they could use microbubbles to destroy cancer cells. (1, 2)
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in June 2020. Dr. Tali Ilovitsh, who works in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Tel Aviv University, led the research team. The team spent two years researching this cancer treatment. (1, 2)
The team developed a method for delivering genes into breast cancer cells. This approach uses ultrasound to explode microbubbles in tumors. When the microbubbles explode, they destroy many cancer cells and tear holes in any that remain. The holes allow immunotherapy genes to enter the cancer cells and eradicate them. (1, 2)
Dr. Ilovitsh first conceived this cancer treatment method during her post-doctorate research at Stanford University. She explained how microbubbles destroy cancer cells in a press release from Tel Aviv University. “Microbubbles are microscopic bubbles filled with gas, with a diameter as small as one-tenth of a blood vessel,” she explained. “We discovered that using lower frequencies than those applied previously, microbubbles can significantly expand until they explode violently. We realized that this discovery could be used as a platform for cancer treatment and started to inject microbubbles into tumors directly.” (1)
Immunotherapy Genes Act As “Trojan Horse”
The research team injected tumor-targeted microbubbles into tumors in mouse models. When the microbubbles exploded, they destroyed about 80% of the tumor cells. (1, 2)
“The targeted treatment, which is safe and cost-effective, was able to destroy most of the tumor. However, it is not enough,” Dr. Ilovitsh said in the press release. “In order to prevent the remaining cancer cells to spread, we needed to destroy all of the tumor cells. That is why we injected an immunotherapy gene alongside the microbubbles, which acts as a Trojan horse, and signaled the immune system to attack the cancer cell.” (1)
In order to destroy all of the tumor cells, the research team injected immunotherapy genes into the tumors with the microbubbles. When the microbubbles exploded and destroyed 80% of the cancer cells, they also created holes in the remaining 20% of cancer cells. The immunotherapy genes were able to enter the cancer cells through these holes. The genes caused the immune system to attack the cancer cells and wipe them out. (1, 2)
Non-Invasive Treatment
But the immunotherapy genes did not only cause the immune system to attack the cells of the tumor they were injected into. The immune system also attacked tumors that hadn’t directly received the treatment. (1, 2)
According to Dr. Ilovitsh, the “mice had tumors on both sides of their bodies. Despite the fact that we conducted the treatment only on one side, the immune system attacked the distant side as well.” (1)
Now that Dr. Ilovitsh has experienced success with this method in treating breast cancer cells, she hopes to explore its other applications. She believes that it could be used as a non-invasive treatment for brain tumors, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. (1)
