Emerging HIFU applications in cancer therapy

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), is a promising, non-invasive modality for treatment of tumours in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging or diagnostic ultrasound guidance. HIFU is being used increasingly for treatment of prostate cancer and uterine fibroids. Over the last 10 years a growing number of clinical trials have examined HIFU treatment of both benign and malignant tumours of the liver, breast, pancreas, bone, connective tissue, thyroid, parathyroid, kidney and brain. For some of these emerging indications, HIFU is poised to become a serious alternative or adjunct to current standard treatments - including surgery, radiation, gene therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy. Current commercially available HIFU devices are marketed for their thermal ablation applications. In the future, lower energy treatments may play a significant role in mediating targeted drug and gene delivery for cancer treatment. In this article we introduce currently available HIFU systems, provide an overview of clinical trials in emerging oncological targets, and briefly discuss selected pre-clinical research that is relevant to future oncological HIFU applications.