{"entity":{"id":"histotripsy-immune-priming","kind":"technology","name":"Histotripsy as an immune primer","aka":[],"tldr":"Destroying a tumour mechanically with sound, rather than heat, leaves the debris intact enough for the immune system to learn from it.","summary":"Histotripsy liquefies tissue by cavitation without heating, so tumour antigens and danger signals survive in a form that heat coagulation destroys. Preclinical models show abscopal responses and synergy with checkpoint blockade, and the approved liver device provides a clinical platform. Human immune data are early and no randomised combination trial has reported.","status":"phase-1","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov: histotripsy","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?term=histotripsy"}],"tags":["frontier","promising"],"related":[],"cancers":["hcc"],"sections":["surgery","immunotherapy"],"technologies":["hifu-histotripsy","checkpoint-inhibitor","thermal-ablation"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["histosonics"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["abscopal-effect","immunogenic-cell-death"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Microsecond ultrasound pulses generate a cavitation bubble cloud that mechanically fractionates tissue at the focus, releasing intact antigens and danger signals that prime an immune response.","strengths":["Non-thermal, so antigens survive","Non-invasive and repeatable","Approved hardware already installed in hospitals"],"limitations":["Immune effect unproven in humans","Acoustic window limits which tumours can be treated","No randomised combination data"]},"route":"/technologies/histotripsy-immune-priming/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"hcc","kind":"cancer","name":"Hepatocellular carcinoma","route":"/cancers/hcc/"}],"section":[{"id":"immunotherapy","kind":"section","name":"Immunotherapy","route":"/fronts/immunotherapy/"},{"id":"surgery","kind":"section","name":"Surgery & Interventional","route":"/fronts/surgery/"}],"technology":[{"id":"hifu-histotripsy","kind":"technology","name":"Focused ultrasound & histotripsy","route":"/technologies/hifu-histotripsy/"},{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"},{"id":"thermal-ablation","kind":"technology","name":"Thermal ablation (RFA, microwave, cryo)","route":"/technologies/thermal-ablation/"}],"company":[{"id":"histosonics","kind":"company","name":"HistoSonics","route":"/companies/histosonics/"}],"term":[{"id":"abscopal-effect","kind":"term","name":"Abscopal effect","route":"/terms/abscopal-effect/"},{"id":"immunogenic-cell-death","kind":"term","name":"Immunogenic cell death","route":"/terms/immunogenic-cell-death/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"devices-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Devices and physical therapies roadmap: heat and light → electric fields and focused sound → drug-releasing implants","route":"/roadmaps/devices-roadmap/"},{"id":"frontier-2035","kind":"roadmap","name":"Radical oncology: what could change the war by 2035","route":"/roadmaps/frontier-2035/"}],"institution":[{"id":"uva-cancer-center","kind":"institution","name":"UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/uva-cancer-center/"}]}}