Cancer drug pierces blood brain barrier in breakthrough

A new technique could revolutionise the treatment of brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases by temporarily allowing drugs and other substances to cross the blood brain barrier – a structure that separates the brain’s blood vessels from the rest of its tissues.

A trial in four women whose breast cancer had spread to the brain showed that magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) could safely deliver the antibody therapy Herceptin into their brain tissue, causing the tumours to shrink.

Ultrasound opens the barrier in specific regions by causing microscopic bubbles of injected contrast agent to oscillate, pulling apart the barrier’s cells. The trial was led by Dr Nir Lipsman, of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, and published in Science Translational Medicine.