{"entity":{"id":"sonodynamic-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Sonodynamic therapy","aka":[],"tldr":"A drug that does nothing until ultrasound hits it, then kills the cells that took it up. Being tested in brain tumours because sound reaches where light cannot.","summary":"5-ALA accumulates as protoporphyrin IX in glioma cells; focused or diffuse ultrasound then generates reactive oxygen species locally. Alpheus Medical is running a phase 2 in newly diagnosed glioblastoma with adjuvant temozolomide (NCT07225621, recruiting) after a completed phase 1 (NCT05362409); Insightec's ExAblate platform completed a phase 2 (NCT04845919) and investigator studies are recruiting in recurrent glioblastoma (NCT06039709). No randomised survival data exist yet.","status":"phase-2","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"Alpheus phase 2 in GBM (NCT07225621)","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07225621"},{"label":"ExAblate SDT phase 2 (NCT04845919)","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04845919"}],"tags":["frontier","promising"],"related":["frontier-2035"],"cancers":["glioblastoma"],"sections":["devices","radiation"],"technologies":["photoimmunotherapy","hifu-histotripsy","fluorescence-guided-surgery","bbb-focused-ultrasound"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["insightec"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"A sonosensitiser concentrates in tumour cells; ultrasound induces cavitation and reactive oxygen species that kill sensitised cells while sparing normal brain.","strengths":["Ultrasound penetrates deep tissue, unlike light","Uses a sensitiser already approved for fluorescence-guided surgery","Non-invasive and repeatable"],"limitations":["No phase 3 or survival data","Sensitiser uptake varies across a heterogeneous tumour","Treatment planning and dosimetry are immature"]},"route":"/technologies/sonodynamic-therapy/","neighbours":{"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/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"}],"section":[{"id":"devices","kind":"section","name":"Devices & Physical Therapies","route":"/fronts/devices/"},{"id":"radiation","kind":"section","name":"Radiation Therapy","route":"/fronts/radiation/"}],"technology":[{"id":"fluorescence-guided-surgery","kind":"technology","name":"Fluorescence-guided surgery","route":"/technologies/fluorescence-guided-surgery/"},{"id":"hifu-histotripsy","kind":"technology","name":"Focused ultrasound & histotripsy","route":"/technologies/hifu-histotripsy/"},{"id":"bbb-focused-ultrasound","kind":"technology","name":"Focused-ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening","route":"/technologies/bbb-focused-ultrasound/"},{"id":"photodynamic-therapy-lasers","kind":"technology","name":"Photodynamic therapy lasers and light sources","route":"/technologies/photodynamic-therapy-lasers/"},{"id":"photoimmunotherapy","kind":"technology","name":"Photoimmunotherapy & photodynamic therapy","route":"/technologies/photoimmunotherapy/"},{"id":"transcranial-focused-ultrasound-systems","kind":"technology","name":"Transcranial focused ultrasound systems (Exablate Neuro, SonoCloud)","route":"/technologies/transcranial-focused-ultrasound-systems/"}],"company":[{"id":"insightec","kind":"company","name":"Insightec","route":"/companies/insightec/"}]}}