A new study at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth is using ultrasound to improve treatments for meningioma, the most common type of primary brain tumour.
The work, which will initially be in patient samples and animal models, will explore how ultrasound can be combined with small gas-filled bubbles – microbubbles – to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy.
Around 3,500 people in the UK are diagnosed with meningioma every year. Current treatments involve surgery where possible and, in some cases, radiotherapy. However, many meningioma tumours do not respond well to radiotherapy and increasing the radiation dose can cause significant impacts to healthy brain tissue.
The new project aims to improve radiotherapy for meningioma using gentle sound waves, known as low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU), combined with microbubbles. When microbubbles are exposed to ultrasound, they vibrate and create mechanical forces that can temporarily stress tumour cells and blood vessels. The research team's hope is that ‘stressing’ the tumour cells in this way will make them more susceptible to the impact of radiotherapy – triggering tumour cell death and reductions in tumour size.
Professor David Parkinson, Director of our Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth, said: “Low-grade tumours are not low impact, and while the majority of meningioma tumours are slow growing, symptoms and the side effects of treatment can be devastating. Our Centre is home to the country’s largest collection of tumour samples from meningioma patients, making us uniquely placed to investigate how we can use focused ultrasound to improve existing approaches to treatment in order to improve outcomes for patients.”
The project will be led by Dr Juri Na (pictured top), Senior Research Fellow, and colleagues at our Plymouth Centre, the Centre for Therapeutic Ultrasound (CENTUS) at the University of Plymouth, and the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford.
The research is being funded by Brain Tumour Research, supported by the Be More Laura Foundation, which was established by Nicola and Mark Nuttall after their daughter, Laura, died of glioblastoma aged just 23 in 2023, five years after her diagnosis.
The £194,000 investment over two years, including £50,000 from the Be More Laura Foundation, will harness focused ultrasound technology that has already had impact in other disease areas such as Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer, and apply it to brain tumours.
Nicola said: “We need to think outside the box; we need to be braver if we are going to change things for brain tumour patients. We wanted to invest in this project because focused ultrasound really feels like it could change the landscape for so many cancers. We’ve seen first-hand the debilitating consequences of harsh and blunt treatments such as radiotherapy, but currently it’s one of the only tools available for many brain tumour types, so anything that can be done to make it more effective is vital.”
Nicola and Laura
Our Director of Research and Policy, Dr Karen Noble, concluded: “Meningioma is the most common primary brain tumour in the UK, but for many patients requiring radiotherapy, the approach is harsh and not very effective. We are focused on the development of new approaches to improve outcomes for people affected by brain tumours and we hope this innovative new study can open up avenues for improving the impact of radiotherapy. We are striving towards a future where a brain tumour diagnosis is no longer defined by uncertainty, distress and limited options, but where patients have hope, personalised care pathways and a realistic expectation that they will get better.”
You can help us continue to fund life-changing research to find more effective treatments and, ultimately, cures for all types of brain tumours by donating today or setting up a regular gift.
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