Key Points
- A clinical trial in pet dogs demonstrated the safety and feasibility of treating brain tumors with histotripsy.
- Co-funded by the Foundation and the American Kennel Club’s Canine Health Foundation, this study supports the development of transcranial histotripsy systems for both human and canine patients.
A unique collaboration between human and veterinary neurosurgeons and a team of engineers at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico C. Besta, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the University of Michigan recently published the results of a landmark clinical trial using histotripsy to treat brain tumors in three pet dogs.
All three dogs were diagnosed with meningiomas, the most common type of primary brain tumor. The tumors were partially treated through a craniotomy, followed by imaging and surgical resection. The team noted that the histotripsy ablations were successful in all three dogs and the treatment was generally well tolerated.
Afterward, the patients were followed for 42 days. At the end of the trial, two dogs showed no signs of remaining tumor tissue while one had progressive disease. Furthermore, one dog’s preexisting cerebral edema was exacerbated after treatment, although it was unclear whether this was attributable to the histotripsy treatment.
Immunological and genomic analyses were performed on the resected tumors. These tests found evidence that the treatment triggered changes in the expression of certain proteins, antigen presentation, and other inflammatory responses. Given the similarities in pathology and genetics between human and canine tumors, these data could be used to inform future studies combining histotripsy with immuno- or chemotherapies.
“Brain tumors represent a significant unmet clinical need in both human and canine patients, but the cost and complexity of developing a transcranial histotripsy system has hampered progress,” said John Rossmeisl, DVM, at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. “The intra-operative approach used here offers the ability to establish the safety and feasibility of histotripsy ablation in the brain while simultaneously informing technical requirements for future systems.”
“This project is a great example of what the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s Veterinary Program is all about,” added Kelsie Timbie, PhD, the Foundation’s veterinary program manager. “Experts from around the world worked together to develop a way to treat canine patients while also collecting data that will help human patients and accelerate equipment development.”
Read “First-In-DOg HISTotripsy for Intracranial Tumors Trial: The FIDOHIST Study” in Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment (open source)
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