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The advent of CAR-T cell therapy has revolutionized the oncologic management of blood cell cancers that readily display their tumor-specific antigens.  Solid cancerous tumors that grow in major organs including the breast, lungs, and the liver are so closely packed that their tumor-specific markers are hidden preventing the modified T killer cells from attacking them. For this reason CAR-T strategies have been ineffective.

University of Southern California bioengineers have a solution.  Using focused ultrasound, they are able to literally shake and prime solid tumor cells to produce and reveal a common tumor marker CD19 that CAR-T killer cells can hone in on and destroy their target. The ultrasound can be precisely aimed in an effort to restrict the immunotherapeutic effect to a localized zone. 

The researchers conducted studies on tumor organoids and mouse models. This ultrasonic trigger led to strong, localized immune attacks even when only 10–15% of tumor cells were primed to produce the CD19 marker.

While this approach has not yet been tried in the clinic, the work represents a major step toward making CAR-T killer cell therapy more effective for solid tumors.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-tumors-destruction-focused-ultrasound.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-025-02391-8

#CAR–T #immunotherapy #ultrasound #CD19