Novel Combination of Thermal Ablation and Heat-Inducible Gene Therapy for Breast Cancer Treatment

摘要

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a rapidly developing technique for cancer thermal ablation with secondary biological effects, such as heat shock response, that may be harnessed for adjunct therapies. To gain further insight into the potential for HIFU to be utilized in conjunction with gene therapy, a transparent cell-embedded tissue mimicking phantom was developed. Most physical parameters of the agrose-based hydrogel fell within the accepted range of values for soft tissues. Lesions produced under different combinations of HIFU intensity and exposure duration could be visualized inside the phantoms. GFP positive cells were primarily found within a circumferential region surrounding the primary site of lesion formation. The thermal necrosis boundary (EM43=240min) fell into this gene activation zone.