Key Points
- Michael Lim, MD, and his team at Stanford University wrote a review article on novel intraoperative tools and strategies for enhancing brain tumor control.
- The article includes multiple effects of focused ultrasound as innovative and noninvasive tools for treatment delivery beyond surgical resection.
- Focused ultrasound can allow the delivery of chemotherapies or immunotherapies, modulate the tumor microenvironment, and enhance the yield for liquid biopsy.
Updates in Intraoperative Strategies for Enhancing Intra-Axial Brain Tumor Control
To accompany its 2022 Annual Meeting, the Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO) published a conference supplement in its journal, Neuro-Oncology. Together with his colleagues, Michael Lim, MD, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumors at Stanford University School of Medicine, wrote a review article on novel intraoperative tools and strategies for enhancing brain tumor control. The article’s three main sections are strategies to reduce surgical risk, increasing margins of resection, and treatment delivery beyond surgical resection.
Multiple effects of focused ultrasound – including blood-brain barrier opening, cavitation, thermal ablation, liquid biopsy, and immunomodulation – are noted as innovative and noninvasive tools for treatment delivery beyond surgical resection. Focused ultrasound can allow the delivery of chemotherapies or immunotherapies, modulate the tumor microenvironment, and enhance the yield for liquid biopsy.
“Preclinical and clinical focused ultrasound research is being presented with increasing frequency at national and international meetings such as SNO,” said Suzanne LeBlang, MD, the Foundation’s Director of Clinical Relationships. “Neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, and neuroradiologists are increasingly recognizing the promise of focused ultrasound. The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is working in concert with SNO on multiple projects to engage and educate the community about new research.”
Dr. Lim donates his time to various Foundation activities, such as participating in workshops, presenting at meetings, and lending his expertise as a member of our Cancer Immunotherapy Scientific Advisory Board. The Foundation appreciates his willingness and expertise in paving the roadmap for how to best use focused ultrasound to treat brain tumors. This review article stresses the importance of using new sophisticated technologies to improve the care of patients with brain tumors and notes how focused ultrasound fits into the treatment armamentarium.