Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38413663›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

A study combining microbubble-mediated focused ultrasound and radiation therapy in the healthy rat brain and a F98 glioma model.

Stecia-Marie P Fletcher, Amanda Chisholm, Michael Lavelle, Romy Guthier, Yongzhi Zhang, Chanikarn Power, Ross Berbeco, Nathan McDannold

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Focused ultrasound for brain metastases.Neuro-oncology advances · 2026
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Stecia-Marie P FletcherDepartment of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. sfletcher4@bwh.harvard.edu.
Amanda ChisholmDepartment of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Michael LavelleDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Romy GuthierDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Yongzhi ZhangDepartment of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Chanikarn PowerDepartment of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Ross BerbecoDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Nathan McDannoldDepartment of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Brigham and Women's Hospital · USHarvard University · US

Funding

Noninvasive monitoring of brain tumor development with focused ultrasound andextracellular vesiclesR01EB028686 · NIBIB · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI MCDANNOLD, NATHAN J. · 2019 to 2022
$2.1M
Optimization of ultrasound-mediated drug delivery to the brain under clinically relevant conditionsR01EB033307 · NIBIB · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI MCDANNOLD, NATHAN J. · 2022 to 2025
$2.0M
NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB028686NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB033307
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Focused Ultrasound (FUS) has been shown to sensitize tumors outside the brain to Radiotherapy (RT) through increased ceramide-mediated apoptosis. This study investigated the effects of FUS + RT in healthy rodent brains and F98 gliomas. Tumors, or striata in healthy rats, were targeted with microbubble-mediated, pulsed FUS (220 kHz, 102-444 kPa), followed by RT (4, 8, 15 Gy). FUS + RT (8, 15 Gy) resulted in ablative lesions, not observed with FUS or RT only, in healthy tissue. Lesions were visible using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) within 72 h and persisted until 21 days post-treatment, indicating potential applications in ablative neurosurgery. In F98 tumors, at 8 and 15 Gy, where RT only had significant effects, FUS + RT offered limited improvements. At 4 Gy, where RT had limited effects compared with untreated controls, FUS + RT reduced tumor volumes observed on MRI by 45-57%. However, survival benefits were minimal (controls: 27 days, RT: 27 days, FUS + RT: 28 days). Histological analyses of tumors 72 h after FUS + RT (4 Gy) showed 93% and 396% increases in apoptosis, and 320% and 336% increases in vessel-associated ceramide, compared to FUS and RT only. Preliminary evidence shows that FUS + RT may improve treatment of glioma, but additional studies are required to optimize effect size.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsGliomaAnimalsBlood-Brain BarrierBrainCell Line, TumorCeramidesMicrobubblesRatsCeramides

Identifiers

PMID38413663
PMCPMC10899261
OpenAlexW4392239405

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.