Sound excitable drugs

Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston TX

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A novel type of therapeutic drugs which could be selectively activated by locally applied ultrasound is proposed to treat cancer and other disease. The technology is termed sonochemotherapy. The proposed sound excitable drugs (SED) are designed to have neither cytotoxicity nor phototoxicity in their native states, but having ultrasound inducible cytotoxicity. Ultrasound is a mature, safe and non-radiation technology, routinely used in various clinical imaging and treatments. Combining ultrasound with the proposed SED, the applied ultrasound wave could become a drug activator, converting non-toxic SED into cytotoxic agents to treat diseases at defined area. Different from conventional nonspecific chemotherapy, which has cytotoxic drugs circulating through out the body, sonochemotherapy provide site-specific chemotherapeutic effect. Ultrasound penetrates deep tissue emitting no radiation, thus the proposed sonochemotherapy is expected to become an alternative treatment approach of radiation therapy and photodynamic therapy with superior efficacy and safety. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this research is to develop a new type of tunable chemotherapeutic agents which could only be activated by specific sound wave. The proposed sonochemotherapeutic technology is unique and could have great potential in cancer treatment. If successful, it could become a safe substitute to currently used radiation therapy.