Clin Cancer Res: ultrasound combined with drugs can be used to treat brain cancer

Because of the existence of the blood-brain barrier (a microstructure that protects the brain from toxins in the blood) and its own toxicity, paclitaxel can not be used in the treatment of glioblastoma Now, scientists in northwestern medicine have used a new technology to open the blood-brain barrier with implantable ultrasound and specifically deliver the drug to tumors in mice Scientists also found that the brain toxicity of paclitaxel to the brain was caused by the solution needed to dissolve the drug (Cremophor) So scientists tested a new drug solution that uses albumin instead of Cremophor to prove it's not harmful to the brain (image source: www Pixabay Com) Ultrasound opens the blood-brain barrier and increases the concentration of paclitaxel in the brain five times This study also showed that paclitaxel can significantly prolong the life of mice with brain tumors, while combined with ultrasound can further prolong the life of mice with brain cancer Under laboratory conditions, paclitaxel is more effective than temozolomide In vitro experiments showed that the concentration of paclitaxel required to kill the same number of tumor cells was 1400 times less than that of conventional chemotherapy for this type of cancer Scientists are now applying to the U.S Food and Drug Administration for a clinical trial to test the concept of combining the new paclitaxel formula with new ultrasound technology to open the blood-brain barrier of patients The clinical trial was designed to determine whether the treatment was safe and whether it prolonged the survival of patients with brain cancer.