Key Points
- The Foundation’s Research Awards Program initiated three preclinical studies from October through December 2024, the fourth quarter of last year.
- The funded projects are investigating the use of focused ultrasound to address pediatric brain tumors, breast cancer, and melanoma.
In the last quarter of 2024, the Foundation’s Research Awards Program initiated three new preclinical studies. Pediatric brain tumors, breast cancer, and melanoma studies are now underway as potential areas in which focused ultrasound can be used as a treatment option.
“There are two cancer immunotherapy projects that continue to build on the University of Virginia’s Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center’s expertise in analyzing the intricate interplay between focused ultrasound and the immune system,” said Kelsie Timbie, PhD, the Foundation’s scientific programs manger. “Both projects were funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a result of the Foundation’s advocacy efforts.”
Each newly initiated project is listed below.
Brain Preclinical (1)
Focused Ultrasound Promotes Blood-Brain Barrier Opening and Delivery of GB13 to Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas led by Adam Green, MD, Mark Borden, PhD, and Randy Schrecengost, PhD, at the University of Colorado Hospital, Anschutz Medical Campus
To determine whether focused ultrasound plus microbubbles will increase the delivery of GB13 to pediatric high-grade gliomas, researchers will use the technology to open the blood-brain barrier in a patient-derived mouse model of diffuse midline glioma. GB13 is an immunotoxin that targets aggressive brain tumors. The study goal is to impair tumor growth and increase survival.
Immunotherapy (2)
Interrogating the Synergistic Potential of Gemcitabine and Thermal Ablation in Breast Cancer: Drawing Insights from the BR54 Trial Through Spatial Transcriptomics led by Awndre Gamache, PhD, at the University of Virginia Health System*
To determine the nature of the tumor microenvironment after thermal ablation, researchers will investigate the spatial distribution and activation of immune cells after therapy – with particular interest in the region around ablated tumors. They will then determine how gemcitabine, a chemotherapy drug, influences the immune response in the ablated, transition, and untreated parts of the tumor.
Immunogenicity of Boiling Histotripsy–Treated Melanoma led by Tim Bullock, PhD, at the University of Virginia Health System*
The aim of this study is to further understand how a type of focused ultrasound called boiling histotripsy enhances the immunogenicity of metastatic melanoma. Researchers will use their previously developed treatment protocol, which generated local and systemic anti-tumor effects, to further analyze the cancer immunity cycle in this disease. The group will then use the data to suggest new therapeutic paradigms.
*This project was funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a result of the Foundation’s advocacy efforts. It will be conducted at the University of Virginia’s Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center.