Chen Hong, Hwang Joo Ha
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
J Ther Ultrasound. 2013 Jul 1;1:10. doi: 10.1186/2050-5736-1-10. eCollection 2013.
Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) is a promising technique for non-invasive, targeted drug delivery, and its applications in chemotherapeutic drug delivery to solid tumors have attracted growing interest. Ultrasound, which has been conventionally used for diagnostic imaging, has evolved as a promising tool for therapeutic applications mainly because of its ability to be focused deep inside the human body, providing a modality for targeted delivery. Although originally being introduced into clinics as ultrasound contrast agents, microbubbles (MBs) have been developed as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent that can both be tracked through non-invasive imaging and deliver therapeutic agents selectively at ultrasound-targeted locations. Whereas free drugs often possess harmful side effects, their encapsulation in MBs and subsequent local release at the targeted tissue by ultrasound triggering may help improve the margin of safety. In the past 10 years, the feasibility and safety of UTMD have been extensively tested using normal animal models. Most recently, a growing number of preclinical studies have been reported on the therapeutic benefits of UTMD in the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs to various malignant tumors, such as brain, liver, eyelid, pancreas, and breast tumors. Increased drug concentration in tumors and reduced tumor sizes were achieved in those tumors treated with UTMD in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs, when compared to tumors treated with chemotherapy drugs alone. This review presents an overview of current preclinical applications of UTMD in chemotherapeutic drug delivery for the treatment of cancers along with a discussion of its future developments.
超声靶向微泡破坏（UTMD）是一种用于非侵入性靶向药物递送的有前景的技术，其在向实体瘤递送化疗药物方面的应用已引起越来越多的关注。超声传统上用于诊断成像，如今已发展成为一种有前景的治疗应用工具，主要是因为它能够聚焦于人体深部，提供一种靶向递送方式。微泡（MBs）最初作为超声造影剂引入临床，现已发展成为一种诊断和治疗剂，既能通过非侵入性成像进行追踪，又能在超声靶向部位选择性地递送治疗剂。游离药物往往具有有害副作用，将其包裹在微泡中并通过超声触发在靶向组织中局部释放，可能有助于提高安全性。在过去10年中，已使用正常动物模型广泛测试了UTMD的可行性和安全性。最近，越来越多的临床前研究报道了UTMD在向各种恶性肿瘤（如脑、肝、眼睑、胰腺和乳腺肿瘤）递送化疗药物方面的治疗益处。与仅用化疗药物治疗的肿瘤相比，用UTMD联合化疗药物治疗的那些肿瘤实现了肿瘤内药物浓度增加和肿瘤大小减小。本综述概述了UTMD目前在化疗药物递送治疗癌症方面的临床前应用，并讨论了其未来发展。
