Researchers at the Viterbi School of Engineering published a study at the beginning of April detailing their work using ultrasound on Chimeric antigen receptor T-cells to target solid tumors and help fight cancer. 

Dr. Longwei Liu, a research assistant professor from the Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering and one of the study’s authors, said the researchers created “EchoBack-CAR” cells by taking a patient’s CAR T-cells, genetically modifying them to respond to ultrasound pulses and putting them back into the patient. 

The newly modified cells, once triggered by ultrasound, are then able to attack and kill tumor cells for five days straight — whereas regular CAR T-cells die after one day of killing.  

“Our controllable CAR T-cells can only be activated after ultrasound stimulation,” Liu said. “They are much safer, and at the same time, they are more effective than the standard CAR T-cells in terms of killing the tumor.”

According to Liu, another benefit of these specialized CAR T-cells is the ability to activate them in a specific location for a specific duration, mitigating the toxicity and risks that treatments like immunotherapy present. 

According to Dr. Yingxiao Wang, department chair of biomedical engineering at Viterbi, the “dream” is to take this work to clinical trials, and the bedsides of patients. The team is working on fundraising for the Food and Drug Administration’s approval — one of the steps in the process to see this treatment administered.

Wang said the cells will “likely” be in critical trials by 2030, then prove its efficacy and eventually be on the market.

Angelica Flores, a junior majoring in business administration, knows individuals who have survived benign tumors. She said she would be skeptical until she knew how the treatment operated. 

“It’s cool to see that people are finding stuff out like that, and being able to explain it in simple terms will definitely help people feel more comfortable,” Flores said.

Wang said when the treatment is finally brought to market, the team envisions its final version as being an intravenously administered “blood product.” 

“So the patient will have their blood withdrawn,” Wang said. “Then we can genetically engineer [the sample], and then they will be put back into patients. Then the patient probably will have their tumor suppressed in one or two months, and that’s the vision.”

Liu said following publication, there was enough interest in the breakthrough that some patients were emailing him asking if the treatment was already available or approaching clinical trials, and offering to participate if so. Liu clarified he is a biomedical engineer, not an oncologist, but the main goal is still to cure cancer, so he spoke to a neurosurgeon about glioblastoma — a type of brain and spine cancer — patients while conducting research. 

“[The neurosurgeon] told me after a patient’s been diagnosed with [glioblastoma], they can only survive 18 months.” Liu said. “[We] can extend their life for maybe half a year … I asked, ‘Why then? Why do they [put in] the effort to do surgery? Because it’s just six months.’ He told me it’s necessary because the patient needs six months to spend time with their families, with their important ones. This inspired me a lot, and we should make every effort we can to extend the patient’s life.”