Key Points
- Five leaders in their fields participated in a panel discussion and shared the latest advances in focused ultrasound for cancer treatment.
- The event is held biennially for Board and Council members, donors, and local friends of the Foundation.
On June 13, 2024, the Foundation held its biennial awareness event in Charlottesville, Virginia. As in past years, attendees included members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, Council, and staff, as well as focused ultrasound clinicians and researchers, patients, donors, and community members interested in the impact of this innovative technology.
More than 120 people in attendance enjoyed a lively panel discussion about focused ultrasound’s potential impact on the field of cancer treatment. Conversation centered on how focused ultrasound can be used to assist immunotherapies, new applications for histotripsy, and promising data for pancreatic cancer.
The panel, “Transforming Patients’ Lives with Focused Ultrasound,” was led by the Foundation’s Chief Scientific Officer and Managing Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program, Jessica Foley, PhD, and included five leaders exploring difficult-to-treat cancers.
Clifford Cho, MD, professor of surgery at the University of Michigan, discussed his teams’ experience using histotripsy, a nonthermal method of using focused ultrasound to destroy tissue, for applications in the liver, pancreas, and the kidneys.
Jae Young Lee, MD, PhD, professor of radiology at Seoul National University, joined virtually to share his early but promising clinical research using focused ultrasound to address pancreatic tumors.
Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, PhD, CEO and director of scientific affairs at the Cancer Research Institute, shared how her organization is working to advance immunotherapy across many fields, including hard-to-treat cancers like that of the pancreas. She also highlighted CRI’s longstanding partnership with the Foundation and why focused ultrasound is an exciting new tool for cancer immunotherapy research.
Tim Bullock, PhD, professor of pathology at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health System, outlined some of the basics of current cancer immunotherapies and shared early results from clinical trials at UVA combining focused ultrasound with immunotherapeutics.
Bob Smith, former senior vice president of the Global Gene Therapy business at Pfizer and executive director at the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, provided insight into how the biotech and pharmaceutical industries view oncology cell and gene therapy and what is most exciting on the horizon.
The group also discussed clinical trial design and the benefits of incorporating diversity and equity in the design of cancer trials. Many panelists also expressed the need for more patient-centric clinical trials, adding that increased patient input when organizing the trials can lead to more effective studies and faster recruitment.
“These events are invaluable to the Foundation’s mission of raising awareness of focused ultrasound,” said Foundation Chairman, Neal F. Kassell, MD. “It is important to update our friends and supporters on the latest breakthroughs and bring them together with the experts in the field who are pioneering this research. We hope everyone left with a sense that the field is expanding rapidly in really meaningful areas that will impact patients’ lives.”