The therapeutic effect of low frequency ultrasound mediated microbubbles destruction on rabbit VX2 orthotopic hepatic tumors / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To determine whether low frequency ultrasound mediated microbubbles destruction (UMMD) could inhibit VX2 orthotopic hepatic tumor growth in rabbit models.Methods Twenty-four New Zealand white rabbits were implanted with VX2 tumor in left hepatic lobe to establish a homograft rabbit model of liver neoplasms in situ,which were randomly divided into four groups(6 rabbits in each group)group A (intravenous saline only),group B (intravenous microbubbles only),group C (intravenous saline+ low frequency focused ultrasound exposure),and group D (intravenous microbubbles+low frequency focused ultrasound exposure).After 3 days consecutive treatment,tumor volume(TV),and peak intensity (PI) were monitored by conventional ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) on 0,1,7,14 and 21 days after treatment.The rabbits were euthanized at the end of the experiment.Tumor tissues were evaluated by HE stain.Results The parameters of TV and PI of each tumor had no significant difference among four groups before treatment(all P>0.05).TV had no significant difference among four groups on 1 day after treatment(all P>0.05);PI in group C and group D were significantly lower than those in group A and group B (all P0.05).The pathological changes of necrosis tissue,hemorrhagic damage of microvessel and thrombosis were observed in the tumors of group D only,whereas these changes occurred rarely in other groups.Conclusions UMMD can inhibit the growth of VX2 hepatic tumors in rabbits,and be used as a promising novel therapeutic strategy to liver neoplasms.