3.1. Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm in the male population
[28][29]. As male life expectancy has increased over the past 25 years, the age at which prostate cancer is detected has decreased by an average of 10 years
[30]. This pattern indicates the limitations of conventional treatments for prostate cancer, including the risk of recurrence and long-term morbidity from urinary system diseases
[31][32].
Currently, there is a wide range of treatment options for prostate cancer, depending on the severity of the disease. For low and medium-risk prostate cancer, options include active surveillance, minimally invasive resection therapy, radiation therapy, and prostatectomy
[33]. In addition, radiation therapy, brachytherapy, and prostatectomy are recommended for localized cancers
[34][35]. In contrast, chemotherapy-induced recurrence is common, and chemotherapy often induces serious toxic effects
[36].
Two different treatments (HIFU and LIPUS), based on the US field, are currently available. Studies on the use of HIFU have been conducted since the 1990s. Compared to other treatment methods, HIFU ablation has the advantage of not causing substantial tissue damage outside the treatment areas
[37]. The significant advantage of HIFU is that it is a non-invasive treatment and does not require the insertion of a probe into the target tissue
[38]. HIFU is considered superior to other methods because it has lower post-treatment incidences than other techniques
[39][40].
In contrast, LIPUS causes stable cavitation without increasing the temperature. LIPUS has a lower intensity compared to HIFU, so the thermal effects are reduced. Most of the impact of LIPUS will be mechanical or involve non-thermal cellular changes. LIPUS is being investigated as a treatment for prostate cancer, either alone or in combination with either microbubbles or anti-cancer drugs. Microbubbles cause cavitation, which results in shear stress and permeability incell membranes, allowing the drug to enter the cells and strengthen its anti-cancer effects. The advantage of this technique is in its ability to focus the US energy on targeted tissues to induce local cytotoxicity by activating sonosensitizers with minimal damage to healthy tissues
[41]. There is also a need for improved measures so that drug-resistant cancers can be treated with chemotherapy. LIPUS, in combination with anti-cancer drugs, could provide a new treatment for drug-resistant cancers
[41]. LIPUS can penetrate deeper than HIFU and thus has a broader range of clinical applications. This is the reason why US at higher frequencies affects tissues that are more superficial; at a lower frequency, less energy is absorbed superficially and more is available to penetrate into deeper tissues
[42]. In addition, LIPUS causes less damage to cells and is safer for normal tissues.
While many previous studies have validated the efficacy of SDT as a single treatment, recent years have seen the utilization of an approach of repeated SDT treatments with superior results
[43]. In the case of prostate cancer, repeated SDT treatments, using either extracorporeal or transrectal US transducers, can be easily applied in a clinical setting, is non-invasive, and has the potential to eliminate the tumor with minimal side effects. SDT is likely to become the first-line treatment for prostate cancer patients, especially those who do not meet the eligibility criteria for standard local ablation methods, such as HIFU. Since SDT does not require the insertion of electrodes or probes inside or near the affected area, the treatment can be performed with minimal effects on the tissue
[44].
3.2. Glioma
Malignant glial tumors are the second most common reason for death from central nervous system diseases, second only to stroke. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common glioma (about 50% of cases) and is one of the most aggressive malignancies occurring in adult patients. Currently, a combination of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy is used. Still, no matter what treatment is used, the median survival time for GBM is 1–1.5 years, and the five-year survival rate is less than 5%
[45][46][47]. The inadequate response to treatment of GBM is attributed to the self-renewal of rapidly proliferating tumor stem cells (TSCs), which are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. TSCs infiltrate healthy brain tissue, and their axonal pathways are far removed from the glioma lesion, leading to their recurrence
[48].
One of the features that explains the poor efficacy of chemotherapy for malignant gliomas is the BBB, which blocks the effects of many drugs in the central nervous system, limiting the range of effective chemotherapeutic drugs
[49]. Even if enough cytotoxic drug is administered to the part of the tumor where the BBB has been destroyed, the drug concentration is thought to be several times lower around the tumor where TSCs surrounded by the BBB are present. These characteristics of malignant glioma result in tumor recurrence, regardless of whether the lesion has been surgically removed entirely or not. As current therapies have not yielded satisfactory results, new therapeutic approaches, including immunotherapy strategies, are being investigated to inhibit tumor progression, eradicate invasive neoplastic cells, and treat unresectable masses
[50].
Considering the ability of US to penetrate tissue and accumulate acoustic energy in a small volume within the tissue, SDT could be an excellent treatment, especially for hard-to-reach and deeply localized tumors such as glioma. Furthermore, if the US sensitizer selectively accumulates in cancer cells, SDT could be a safer method that would not harm healthy brain cells
[51]. Moreover, reviews on SDT and glioma discuss various potential applications of SDT, including BBB-opening, increased drug delivery to tumor cells, and enhanced immunotherapy
[52][53]. However, the mechanism by which SDT exerts its cytotoxic effect on brain tumors is not well understood. The most plausible theories include the cavitation effect, the generation of ROS, the induction of apoptosis, the enhancement of anti-tumor immunity, the suppression of angiogenesis, and the induction of hyperthermia
[54].
Recently, SDT has been considered as a new approach for high-grade glial neoplasms and an alternative treatment for unresectable masses, by enhancing standard treatments for delaying tumor recurrence. Indeed, by taking advantage of the specific pharmacokinetics of 5-ALA and fluorescein sodium, SDT can selectively narrow the cytotoxic and modulatory effects on glioma cells while sparing the surrounding parenchyma. This concept is important in the field of neuro-oncology, where neural tissue near the tumor lesion may be involved in many functions and should be preserved to maintain the patient’s quality of life
[22].
US sensitizers have been studied, especially 5-ALA and fluorescein, which are already widely used to guide the resection of malignant brain tumors due to their selective accumulation in glial cells and known good safety properties. These characteristics make them good candidates for experimental studies in SDT
[55][56]. 5-ALA will be the most widely employed porphyrin-based sonosensitizer in the in vivo glioma model of SDT. 5-ALA, an amino acid precursor required for heme biosynthesis, is produced in mitochondria from glycine and succinyl-CoA by 5-ALA synthase. Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), the final metabolite of the heme biosynthetic pathway, has photosensitizing properties. The administration of 5-ALA results in increased synthesis of PpIX, which accumulates in cancer cells, mainly in the brains of patients with glioma
[57]. The light active PpIX emits red light at wavelengths of 635 and 704 nm when excited by blue light at 380-420 nm wavelengths. This property of protoporphyrin has been exploited in neurosurgery for fluorescence-guided resection procedures
[57][58][59]. However, because gliomas are invasive, it is difficult to remove cancer cells altogether, and the low accumulation efficiency of 5-ALA in glioma cancer stem cells prevents accurate resection.
The new technique of using sonosensitizer and US for glioma treatment is selective for malignant cells, so there is no need to identify them in advance. At the same time, it is non-invasive and can be applied repeatedly. The availability of SDT with 5-ALA has been evaluated in a rat model of glioma C6. When healthy brain tissue was irradiated with US at a frequency of 1.04 MHz and a local intensity of 15 W/cm
2 for 5 min, a large amount of brain tissue was found to be lost. Therefore, SDT used US of lower intensity (10 W/cm
2) and the same frequency and duration of irradiation. A significant reduction in tumor size was observed in the brains of animals treated with SDT compared to either the control group or the group irradiated only with US
[60]. In an experiment using a rat model of glioblastoma C6 transplanted into Sprague Dawley rats, favorable treatment response and increased survival were observed in the group that received SDT via 5-ALA. This result was not observed in the 5-ALA-only or US-only groups
[61].
Although many studies in the past have used frequencies of around 1 MHz, 5-ALA-SDT using frequencies as low as 25 kHz showed tumor regression and growth inhibition in an in vivo U87-MG glioma model. This frequency is used in many surgical US aspirators, and the authors advocate the intraoperative application of SDT using such devices in combination with 5-ALA
[62]. On the other hand, fluorescein, an organic compound belonging to the xanthene family of dyes, is a suitable compound for the resection of malignant gliomas in neurosurgery due to its selective accumulation in the brain regions where the BBB is impaired, in addition to its rapid flushing from blood vessels and normal tissues
[55][63]. In a study using a rat-C6 glioma model, fluorescein-based SDT (FL-SDT) not only showed selective accumulation of the compound in subcutaneously injected tumors, reaching a peak at 30′, but FL-SDT also showed efficacy compared to either a control group or a group that received US without sensitizers.
While the latter group only experienced delayed growth due to treatment, FL-SDT showed a mild reduction in tumor volume at the seven-day checkpoint. The study did not show any significant apoptotic markers or DNA fragmentation trends, but this was probably due to the delayed checkpoint
[64][65]. Fluorescein and 5-ALA, which have been investigated in various preclinical studies using glioma models, are widely used in neurosurgery to induce resection of malignant brain tumors. These compounds are known to be safe and selectively accumulate in glial cells in vivo and should be the focus of attention for further research and clinical application
[22]
3.3. Pancreatic Duct Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)
PDAC has a poor prognosis among gastrointestinal tumors, with no specific early symptoms, and many tumors are inoperable at diagnosis. The median survival time is only four to six months, and the five-year survival rate without treatment is less than 1%. Newer chemotherapies have been introduced yet the 1-year survival rate is still only about 20%
[66].
Chemotherapy has a limited effect on local tumor control and pain and symptom reduction. As a result, many affected patients will have their quality of life significantly impacted. The purpose of local therapy for pancreatic cancer is to reduce complications associated with the tumor, and to relieve symptoms. Currently, radiation therapy has been established as a local therapy, but it merely prolongs the survival period and alleviates symptoms in clinical terms. In recent years, other local ablation methods such as cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, irreversible electroporation, and HIFU have been used with good results in some cases
[67]. In addition to chemotherapy, minimally invasive ablative therapy is available for unresectable PDAC, where radical surgery is impossible, and chemotherapy has limited efficacy. Since the late 1990s, HIFU has been used and is now recommended as an alternative treatment for unresectable PDAC
[68][69]. HIFU effectively resects pancreatic tumors by increasing the local tissue temperature to 65 °C, breaking down tumor cells, breaching the pancreatic cancer stromal barrier, and facilitating chemotherapy delivery to the pancreatic tumor
[70]. Several studies have reported that HIFU combined with chemotherapy has shown better results than chemotherapy alone.
In a recently developed genetically engineered mouse model, mutated alleles of Kras and p53 are expressed in pancreatic cells, resulting in tumors that closely resemble the pathophysiology and molecular characteristics of human PDAC
[71][72]. As such, this animal provides a more realistic model for evaluating the potential for future therapies, especially drug delivery
[73]. The efficacy of HIFU-induced hyperthermia combined with low-temperature liposomes to enhance doxorubicin delivery was evaluated in the PDAC model using the KPC mouse model. In the study results, targeted hyperthermia with FUS was performed after systemic administration of doxorubicin-filled cold-sensitive liposomes (LTSL-Dox). Monitoring using MR-thermometry showed a twofold increase in the median amount of doxorubicin accumulation in the target tumor tissue compared to the same amount of doxorubicin administered without encapsulation. There are two possible mechanisms for the increased drug accumulation, vascular changes due to hyperthermia and local drug release. Mild hyperthermia (40–43 °C) has been shown to increase tumor blood flow and vascular permeability
[74][75][76][77]. The increase in drug concentration when hyperthermia is combined with LTSL drugs can be attributed to the changes in tumor vascular properties caused by hyperthermia and the high local concentrations of available medications released in the vascular system
[78]. In this research, continuous-wave HIFU was successfully used to provide mild heat to enhance drug delivery.
In addition, other biological effects of HIFU, such as cavitation, can be used to enhance drug penetration. In a previous study, pulsed HIFU, to disrupt the stroma, increased the permeability of the pancreatic tumor stroma and enhanced drug penetration
[70]. This suggested that the combination of mild hyperthermia with HIFU and mechanical disruption may further enhance drug penetration
[73]. Currently, gemcitabine is the standard treatment for pancreatic cancer, and doxorubicin is not used to treat pancreatic cancer. However, many studies are evaluating new ways of delivering doxorubicin to improve local accumulation without systemic toxicity, which may lead to the use of doxorubicin for pancreatic cancer in the future
[79][80][81].