Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42281803›Full record

ReviewNeuro-oncology advances2026

Focused ultrasound for brain metastases.

Ahmad Ozair, Bilal Moiz, Pavlos Anastasiadis, Dheeraj Gandhi, Bibhas Amatya, Michael W McDermott, Graeme F Woodworth, Manmeet S Ahluwalia

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Neuro-oncology advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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.

Ahmad OzairBrain Tumor Program, University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6570-4541
Bilal MoizDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7378-6399
Pavlos AnastasiadisDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0230-7925
Dheeraj GandhiDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-5970
Bibhas AmatyaDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9429-7074
Michael W McDermottHerbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7944-5181
Graeme F WoodworthDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9663-0768
Manmeet S AhluwaliaMiami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, FL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3794-9511

Funding

Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational ResearchUM1TR004926 · NCATS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI STEPHEN N. DAVIS, Daniel Ernest Ford · 2024 to 2026
$28.5M
NCATS NIH HHS UM1 TR004926
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Brain metastases (BMs) increasingly represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. The efficacy of systemic therapies for BMs, in contrast to extracranial metastases (EMs), remains limited secondary to a host of challenges. These include insufficient drug delivery due to the blood-brain barrier and blood-tumor barrier, the unique immunological milieu in the tumor microenvironment and cerebrospinal fluid, the diversity of immunogenomic landscapes in BMs across genetically distinct malignancies, the branching evolution of BM from EMs, and the challenges in longitudinally obtaining information regarding clinically actionable genetic alterations in BMs for precision oncology. These complex, long-standing challenges require treatment strategies that address multiple problems concurrently, as represented by the potential of focused ultrasound (FUS) for enhancing effectiveness of several existing BM-specific management strategies. Beyond historically investigated applications of FUS for BMs, including thermoablation and histotripsy, new frontiers include enhanced drug delivery of systemic therapies, plasma sono-liquid biopsy of BM-derived factors, radiosensitization, and immunomodulation. These applications, as discussed here, enable multiple combinatorial opportunities of FUS with targeted- and/or immunotherapies for BMs. With multiple ultrasound delivery platforms (including MR-guided, neuro-navigation-guided, and implantable devices) being investigated in neuro-oncology trials worldwide, this review provides strategies for designing and optimizing future research efforts.

Indexed as

acousticsbrain metastasismicrobubbleneuro-oncologysonication

Identifiers

PMID42281803
PMCPMC13250587

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.