Anyone heard about Histotripsy for liver NETs?

Hello @kaw627 and welcome to the NETs support group on Mayo Connect. I did find some information about the use of histotripsy on the University of Michigan's website. Here is the link to that information.
https://histotripsy.umich.edu/
Has this treatment been recommended for NETs?

Hi! Thank you for sending the article, this is the one I had read and found so interesting. I have my 6 month scans next month and this is something I want to talk to my NET doctor about. I have over 30 tumors on my liver (primary in small intestine) and unfortunately I'm not a candidate for surgery. I was wondering if this might be something that would work on me.

Stay tuned, I will post once I get information.

Have a great day!!!

Thanks for raising this issue. Here is a link to an article from a local Michigan newspaper with more information. The technology originated at University of Michigan.
https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/10/breakthrough-treatment-developed-by-um-destroys-cancerous-tumors-with-sound-waves.html
Here is another link from that article to the website of HistoSonics, a firm that has been formed to develop and commercialize the histotripsy technology. It shows Johnson & Johnson and other entities with significant resources have an interest in this company. I believe U of M also has an interest in HistoSonics.

Oops, I forgot to add the HistoSonics link to my message above. Here it is:
https://histosonics.com

Kaw627: It seems your NET experience is very similar to mine. I am very interested in response of your search of support for Hystotripsy. I await continued discussion to determine if this may be a successful NET Liver treatment for me as well. What did your Oncologist say?

I think histotripsy is pretty exciting. Watch the videos on it. Yes, it was just approved for liver tumors so far, but is also being researched for tumors in other areas. I'm meeting with my interventional radiologist next week to discuss my 6 month scans. He successfully performed microwave ablation to destroy my largest lung NET (2.6 cm). I'm going to ask him if he has been involved with histotripsy at all and his thoughts on it as compared to various types of thermal ablation. He told me my tumor was the largest he had even destroyed using microwave ablation and he was thrilled it was successful. I'll post anything interesting if he is familiar with histotripsy. Thanks to everyone for sharing links and info.

I too am not a candidate for surgery and hopeful about this revelation. Thanks.

Thanks for your post. My situation is very similar to yours. I look forward to reading your post after you talk to your NET doctor.

Thanks for the reminder to fill you in. I did ask my IR who did my lung tumor microwave ablation what he knows about histotripsy and how he thinks it compares to various thermal ablations. I hesitate to speak for him so note this is me paraphrasing what he told me. He finds histotripsy very interesting, but feels it needs a lot more testing (he wasn't specific about that, but I'm guessing for long term results). It may be slow to take off in the medical community due to the high cost, both the cost of the machine and supplies for each procedure. He believes two facilities are ready to invest in it so far. If it becomes approved for several organs rather than just the liver, that may look like a better investment. He feels insurance companies are likely to push back on it due to cost. Finally, for me, he did say it will never be used in the lungs because ultrasound can't penetrate the lungs. If anyone ever has the histotripsy procedure, I'd love to hear about their experience.

I also spoke to my IR and was told some of what you were told - it's new but promising, they are looking at it carefully, etc. Your info filled in some blanks such as interesting insurance company implications. Thank you!