Ultrasonography (Jul 2017)

Ultrasound-guided drug delivery in cancer

  • Sayan Mullick Chowdhury,
  • Taehwa Lee,
  • Jürgen K. Willmann

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14366/usg.17021
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 36, no. 3
pp. 171 – 184

Abstract

Read online

Recent advancements in ultrasound and microbubble (USMB) mediated drug delivery technology has shown that this approach can improve spatially confined delivery of drugs and genes to target tissues while reducing systemic dose and toxicity. The mechanism behind enhanced delivery of therapeutics is sonoporation, the formation of openings in the vasculature, induced by ultrasound-triggered oscillations and destruction of microbubbles. In this review, progress and challenges of USMB mediated drug delivery are summarized, with special focus on cancer therapy.

Keywords