EXTRACORPOREAL, SELECTIVE FOCUSED DESTRUCTION OF HEPATIC-TUMORS BY HIGH-INTENSITY ULTRASOUND IN RABBITS BEARING VX-2 CARCINOMA

High intensity ultrasound induced thermal effects were used for the extracorporeal destruction of VX-2 liver tumour model in the rabbit. The device used, 'Ablatherm' (Technomed, Bron, France), consists of a firing system, an ultrasound imaging scanner, and a computer controlling the firing sequence and the three-dimensional movements of the firing head. Three controls and six treated animals were used, all of them having a 12-day, non-necrotic tumour in the left anterior lobe of the liver. The treatment session was completely extracorporeal and non-invasive. The first two tumours treated were not affected, but the next tour, due to an improved localization method, presented a 69.3 +/- 9.1 % destruction of the tumour volume, as compared to 9.2 +/- 0.2% in the controls (spontaneous necrosis). Affected areas of the tumours consisted of a homogeneous and sharply delineated coagulation necrosis, while surrounding tissues were not damaged. The authors conclude that this is potentially relevant in cancer therapy, and that the long term anti-neoplastic effects in this model with this treatment remain to be investigated.