New treatment called histotripsy kills cancer cells with sound and water

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (KABC) -- It's being called a potential game-changer in fighting certain types of cancer and it uses highly-focused soundwaves.

For destroying tumors, histotripsy offers many advantages over radiation and radiofrequency ablation. Chris Donaldson's is one grateful patient who said it gave him an option, when he had few.

"It's innovative. I think it should be used widespread for other types of cancers," said Donaldson, a 48-year-old from Alabama.

He traveled to Providence Mission Hospital because the center leads the nation in treating patients with this new FDA-approved modality.

"Histotripsy is a technology that uses ultrasound waves that go to a very small point. It's about the size of a grain of rice. And it just ruptures the cells and kills them instantly," said Dr. Kevin Burns, Chief of Interventional radiology.

The treatment took 20 years to develop and it arrived just in time for Donaldson. He was running out of options and hope.

"I was basically told I had three years, and when it metastasizes to your liver, it somewhat starts a clock of two years. And there was no treatment whatsoever," he said.

In 2022, Donaldson was diagnosed with ocular melanoma. Radioactive seeds behind his eyes destroyed the cancer there. But because it traveled to his liver, doctors weren't sure how well conventional treatments would work. Then, Donaldson heard about histotripsy.

"Success rates have been very, very good for this procedure, meaning that we're getting good local control. It's not even a sterile procedure. You are asleep for this procedure just to prevent any sort of pain or discomfort. But there's no incisions or anything like that," said Burns.

In the air, sound dissipates. For the beams to be focused, sound needs a medium. And in this case, doctors use degassed water.

"So we have to get rid of all air between the treatment head and the patient. And so there's actually this water bath that sits on top of you," Burns said.

Unlike radiation, this soundwave therapy doesn't impact any other tissue. It can be repeated as needed. After each treatment, the organ bounces back.

"And so when the liver cells grow, they kind of grow back," said Jimmy Ton, an Interventional Radiologist at Providence Mission Hospital.

Early studies show that liquifying the tumors leave behind benign genetic material that may improve the body's defenses against cancer.

"The plan for this device and technology is to continue on to other organs or other modalities. Things like thyroid tissue and breast tissue potentially could be ablated," said Ton.

Two months after treatment, Donaldson's liver remains cancer free. It's the best news he's ever heard.

"Truly saved my life. Truly gave me a chance to meet my grandchildren. If I could inspire anyone to just not give up and have that glimmer of hope," he said.