OT: UofM-founded company kills cancer using ultrasound

Submitted by ca_prophet on October 13th, 2023 at 8:54 PM

A company founded by UofM engineers and doctors is using ultrasound to treat liver cancer without surgical intervention and virtually no side effects.

The technology works by using high-powered, very precise ultrasound to liquify tumors without damaging the surrounding tissue.  Breaking the cancer cell walls exposes the tumor antigens which trigger the immune response, providing a secondary benefit of increased recurrence prevention.

The treatment is currently in limited trials but has proven very successful so far, and received FDA approval to treat liver tumors in humans earlier this week.

 

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cancer sucks

BoFan

October 14th, 2023 at 11:05 AM ^

I’ll leave this here as a general statement  

Darker Blue’s skepticism and frustration of medical research and development funding is absolutely understandable based on the facts and how decisions must be made in a corporate structure where the corporation is required to prioritize profits on behalf of shareholders. By the way, governments do not have to prioritize profits. 

As a tangent, there is a new form of corporate structure called a certified B Corp. that is trying to allow companies to make decisions on behalf of all stakeholders, and not just shareholders. 

Joined: 03/09/2012

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Darker Blue

October 14th, 2023 at 11:29 AM ^

I've had terrible experiences with doctors and the medical industry in general.

I was diagnosed with type 1 at 13 years old. 30 years ago. 

Since diagnosis I've heard at virtually every endocrinologist visit that I've had over the last 30 years that a cure is right around the corner. 

So I'm a skeptic and probably wear a tinfoil hat. 

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BoFan

October 14th, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^

Honker

1) and 2) if you took the time to read the article about this new treatment, you would understand that the subtypes are irrelevant. It is actually a very remarkable discovery.

4) people are speculating all over the place about what you mean here. As it stands, your mistake makes it an inflammatory and inaccurate statement.  The much more important and parallel version of your statement is that it’s much more profitable to create drugs that treat diabetic complications than it is to cure the disease. This applies to type one and type two. The profit from maintaining the disease and treating the symptoms is what creates the $320 billion per year cost. 

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Perkis-Size Me

October 13th, 2023 at 9:59 PM ^

Any chance it can kill bladder cancer in dogs?

That’s what our lab will likely be succumbing to in the next four to six months. He’s had a great and very full life, in fact the best damn life we could’ve ever given him, but I’ve shed more tears in the last two weeks than I could ever hope to count.

Cancer is a bitch, folks. I don’t say any of this to be a Debbie Downer. This is truly a great achievement, and It’ll be a red letter day in the history of the human race when cancer is wiped from the face of the Earth.

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San Diego Mick

October 14th, 2023 at 12:04 AM ^

Indeed, in May I thought my beloved cat had a bad tooth and started acting lethargic and didn't eat as much, a very bad sign.

Took her to the vet to get the tooth fixed, left her there, got called 2 hours later to find out she had some sort of mouth cancer, I was devastated and had to euthanize her that day and still cry about her a ton, I miss her so much.

Animals are wonderful and therapy for the soul.

I hope this technology is the elixir we are looking for and that it cures all kinds of cancers in humans and pets.

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Sam1863

October 14th, 2023 at 5:08 AM ^

I lost my cat of 14 years, Harry, to that filthy disease. He survived thyroid cancer, thanks to the surgical skills of a doctor who is on the faculty at MSU. (Say what you will about their team, coaching staff, or fan base, but I will always have a soft spot for their Veterinary School.)

But 18 months later, he developed a tumor in his abdomen. When they ran tests to see if surgery was an option, they discovered he also had lymphoma. A month later we took the final trip to the vet, who was in tears like me. (She'd treated Harry since he was a kitten.)

So more power to anyone anywhere who finds any way to beat that fucking disease.

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wetnoodle

October 13th, 2023 at 10:15 PM ^

That sucks so much..I am sorry to hear

Thought I heard Univ of Wisc has some kind of great dog cancer program-the guy who owns WeatherTech used them and did funding (or something like that)

 

https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/legacy-continues-for-dog-whose-cancer-treatment-at-uw-madison-inspired-millions/

check it out..mentions some treatment they do 

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Monkey House

October 13th, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^

Isn't something similar to this being used on lung cancer too? Dr. Steve from Weird Medicine has always said he believes cancer will be cure before our lifetime is up. Let's all hope that's true!

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DCGrad

October 13th, 2023 at 10:27 PM ^

There are a lot of companies working on the DNA/RNA sequencing of different cancers and tumors. They aren’t there yet, but I think in 5-10 years cancer treatments will be significantly more effective than they are today. 

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DennisFranklinDaMan

October 14th, 2023 at 12:49 AM ^

Yeah, what a weird take. Is may be an interesting general proposition to consider — is living forever "good"? — but bizarre in this specific context. "Weird that you wish the cancer that killed your 43-year-old-wife after causing her months/years of agonizing pain and distress had a cure. We weren't meant to live forever, don't forget."

I mean, we weren't "meant" to fly. We weren't "meant" to drive. We weren't "meant" to cure polio. So what?

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UMgradMSUdad

October 14th, 2023 at 4:19 AM ^

This sounds very hopeful. I am currently battling cancer. I've gone through months of IV chemo that really has helped. The tumor is significantly smaller but the cancer had already started to spread (I'm stage 3 C). I know have 2 weeks of oral chemo and radiation left then surgery. I sleep probably 12 hours per day but the worst part is the hand- foot syndrome side effect from the chemo. The skin on my fingers is super sensitive.  It hurts so much I can't even open a bottle of water or push up the tab on a childproof medicine bottle.

It would be wonderful to have a treatment with fewer side effects.

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Hanlon's Razor

October 14th, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^

This is absolutely amazing. Another potential benefit from this research from the article: 

"After breaking up a tumor in one mouse using histotripsy, the team extracted some of the tumor lysate and injected it into another mouse. Both mice developed immune protection from that cancer.

“Injecting the tumor lysate into a second mouse had almost a vaccine-like property,” Xu said. “Mice that received this debris were surprisingly resistant to the growth of cancers.”

 

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