Trial Planned to Test Focused Ultrasound to Improve Immunotherapy's Effectiveness Against Melanoma

A research team at UVA Health is “testing the potential of focused ultrasound to increase the immune response to immunotherapy in melanoma.” Their website has the release.

The trial will “evaluate the safety and effectiveness of focused sound waves for augmenting the benefits of immunotherapy combined with surgical removal of the cancerous tumors.” The goal is to change the tumor’s so-called “microenvironment” and boost the body’s immune response.

Lynn Dengel, the research team’s leader, stated that 20 to 40 percent of patients with advanced melanoma do not respond to immunotherapy. Melanoma affects over 100,000 Americans every year “and is responsible for a majority of skin cancer deaths.”

In this new trial, eleven study participants who are receiving the cancer immunotherapy drug PD-1 antibody blockade will be enrolled. These participants will “receive focused ultrasound with Theraclion’s ultrasound-guided EchoPulse device and then receive an injection into their tumor of another immunotherapy drug, Hiltinol, before undergoing surgery to remove the tumor.” The researchers will then evaluate the effect by “looking at the pattern of ablation (tissue destruction in the tumor) and changes to the tumor’s immune environment.”