# Antivascular ultrasound therapy of primary liver neoplasia

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $415,179

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 80 to 90% of primary liver cancer. It is the fifth most
common malignancy and is the third most common cause of cancer-related death. This application will test
the novel approach of antivascular ultrasound for treating HCC. Our preliminary studies show that low-
level ultrasound with intensities comparable to those used in treating physiotherapy patients, when used
with microbubbles, disrupts tumor neovasculature and improves the survival of animals with implanted
tumors.
The goals of the research are to demonstrate the efficacy of antivascular ultrasound for treating HCC, and
to identify the conditions of treatment that have high efficacy as measured both by imaging and survival of
the animals with implanted liver tumors.
The proposal has three Specific Aims. Specific Aim 1 will investigate the relationship between blood flow
and temperature change. Specific Aim 2 will determine the ultrasound exposure conditions that produce
tumor antivascular activity at the lowest possible exposure to ultrasound. Specific Aim 3 will evaluate the
short-term and the long term-term therapeutic efficacy of single and multiple ultrasound treatments.
We anticipate that the knowledge gained from the proposed research will lead to a new form of antivascular
or vascular disrupting treatment for HCC. Of particular interest would be the ability of antivascular
ultrasound to treat non-resectable small and large cancers frequently observed clinical. Advantages include
the simplicity and small cost of low-intensity ultrasound technology, the use of quantitative ultrasound
imaging to assess and monitor therapeutic efficacy at the time of treatment, and fewer unwanted side
effects from the low-intensity ultrasound therapy compared to cytotoxic therapies. We anticipate that the
results of this study will facilitate the translation of a novel ultrasound technology to the treatment of
patients with HCC.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9830020
- **Project number:** 5R01CA204446-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** CHANDRA M SEHGAL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $415,179
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-01-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9830020

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9830020, Antivascular ultrasound therapy of primary liver neoplasia (5R01CA204446-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9830020. Licensed CC0.

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