# MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound Combined with Immunotherapy to Treat Malignant Brain Tumors

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $623,825

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
In the United States, nearly 70,000 new cases of primary brain tumors are diagnosed every year. Although significant
advances have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of brain cancers, the mortality rate has remained steady for more
than 30 years. Patients have a five-year overall survival rate from 5% to 40% depending on the histological subtype;
survival is dismal for glioblastomas (5% survival rate at five years).
A promising new approach to treat brain cancer is immunotherapy. Several immune-based drugs are currently in
development for brain tumors, including anti-CD47 antibodies. However, some types of brain tumors are relatively
resistant to anti-CD47 antibodies, due at least in part to the difficulty in crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB), even the
abnormal BBB observed in brain tumors.
Transcranial magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) has emerged as an effective, non-invasive
treatment for brain lesions through the intact skull.1 MRgFUS causes intravenously injected microbubbles to oscillate,
which mechanically disrupts the BBB in a targeted, transient, and non-toxic manner, increasing its permeability to large
molecules into the brain. In preclinical studies, BBB opening has been used to deliver chemotherapeutic agents,
antibodies, stem cells, and targeted genes. Although studies have probed the effect of MRgFUS on normal brain tissue,
including changes in BBB opening and sterile inflammation in the normal brain microenvironment, the effect of MRgFUS
has not been studied in brain tumors.
In this study, we will investigate the use of MRgFUS on brain tumor tissue, with the goal of enhancing the effect of
immunotherapies on brain tumors. Using mice with orthotopic brain tumor grafts (mouse tumors and human
glioblastomas), we will assess (1) how MRgFUS affects the microenvironment of brain tumor tissue, (2) whether
MRgFUS enhances the delivery of anti-CD47 antibodies in brain tumor tissue, and (3) whether MRgFUS increases the
efficacy of immunotherapy on brain tumors without increasing the risk of toxicity to the normal brain tissue.
Our results could be applied to other anti-tumor monoclonal antibodies, immunotherapies, and standard chemotherapeutic
agents for a range of brain tumors. By better understanding the effect of MRgFUS and MRgFUS+microbubbles on the
brain tumor microenvironment, this research will open a path to safely enhancing the effect of treatments for malignant
primary brain tumors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9937680
- **Project number:** 5R01CA217953-04
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Max Wintermark
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $623,825
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-12 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9937680

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9937680, MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound Combined with Immunotherapy to Treat Malignant Brain Tumors (5R01CA217953-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9937680. Licensed CC0.

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