Histotripsy: My experience

"Histotripsy uses a transducer, which converts energy into sound, to deliver pulsing ultrasound waves to a malignant mass at a precise location. When those waves hit gases inside cancerous cells, they generate clouds of millimeter-sized bubbles that repeatedly grow and collapse. The mechanical energy created breaks up the tumor cells’ structure, turning it into a harmless liquid called acellular lysate that is reabsorbed by the body."
This is copied from: https://news.engin.umich.edu/2024/12/histotripsy-tumor-treatment-moves-from-trials-to-triumphs-in-2024/

Just trying to give a description of this fairly new procedure for everyone. I've heard about it on this Mayo site a bit, and was more intrigued with the idea of getting this when my original oncologist from Hoag (Newport Beach, CA) mentioned that at the recent PANCAN Walk for Cancer that I did this year (woohoo!) that they were one of three facilities in California that had the equipment to do histotripsy.

I did targeted radiation (MRIdean) at City of Hope in October 2024 for a stubborn 0,9cm lesion (originally diagnosed as 1.5cm in December 2023) that wouldn't shrink via my chemo/abraxane chemo anymore). It seemed to have work as my cancer antigen 19-9 hovered around 11 for several months, or approximately, 5.5 months. Then CA19-9 started to rise and and it seemed a new lesion had appeared adjacent to lesion that had been "ablated", but this early guess of a new lesion appeared only as a result of a PET scan, and no image had been seen on the MRI and CT scans seen in April of this year. At this time I had only been on the gem chemo since January 2025 as a maintenance drug since my antigen CA19-9 had been normal 11 since the previous October or my last targeted radiation treatment. I took a gem chemo break at the end of March 2025 since we were moving to a new residence.

After that time I noticed pain in the liver and across my lower abdominal area (most likely those 2 peritoneal nodules that had been possibly diagnosed as a metastasis in December of 2023). I say possibly because the biopsy had been negative, but my wise UCLA pancreatic dr had told me to assume it was metastasis since that was a common pathway. Those nodules had not grown for 1 year and 3 months while I was on the gem/abraxane chemo treatment. Now the pain was increasing and I suspected they were growing, but difficult to see in scans. My city of Hope oncologist wanted me to go into the phase 3 clinical trial in 6236, but it was randomized, and not being as altruistic as others I didn't want to take the chance that I wouldn't be in that 50% group that would actually receive the 6236 trial drug. So I parted ways with my COH onc and went back to Hoag and got into the Naliri-5FU chemo treatment for the now 2-3 liver lesion(s) (each under 1.5cm) and peritoneal nodules. I haven't had any elimination of these sites (maybe this chemo is keeping them at a very slow growth pace for my very aggressive cancer mutations); but last checked my ca19-9 was 11,100!

Peritoneal carcinomatosis is critical if it gets into the intestines or stomach, or apparently the appendix. Blockage can occur and then make eating difficult; it happened to my father and my best friend; but now I have 2 spreads; the liver and the peritoneum as I have a "belt" of nodules across my peritoneum with 1 invading my appendix, and the other 2 largest ones hovering around the large intestine.

I'm back to navigating my own care at Hoag again. I tried radiation so histotripsy sounds very hopeful to keep my liver intact and functional at least for a few more months.

Histotripsy is a procedure where you go under anesthesia for a few hours and it turns your lesions (you can work on a few at one time) and let them dissolve. I had absolutely no side effects following my histotripsy procedure yesterday. I was told the airway tube would be double the size typically used so my throat would be sore and uncomfortable after my procedure, but I say MIRACULOUSLY no effect on me yesterday.

I'm not afraid to ask for prayers and I ask my very best friends and relatives to pray for me and thankful for those on this board who prayed. The procedure seemed successful and in 1 month I have a recheck with my IR dr, Dr. T. Patel, and we will see how I did! This gives me some peace of mind as I now can focus on treating my peritoneal nodules through my previous UCLA oncologist. No histotripsy on peritoneal nodules yet, but my dr said, I think, there is a trial for nodules in kidneys that they are doing in Spain.