Two Emerging Cancer Therapies With Major Potential: Ultrasound (instead of surgery) and mRNA Vaccines

With this week's article, we conclude our series on new treatments that appear to be on the cusp of solving life-threatening cancers. Both of the therapies profiled in this article show potential on their own, but appear most effective when used in combination with other proven therapies, often dramatically boosting response rates.

How ultrasound is ushering in a new era of surgery-free cancer treatment

Ultrasound has long been used to help doctors see inside the body, but high-frequency sound waves are now being turned into weapons against cancer itself. A new generation of scientists is using sound to destroy tumors, open the blood–brain barrier, and even awaken the immune system—all without a single incision.

It began, as breakthroughs often do, with an accident. In the early 2000s, Zhen Xu, then a PhD student at the University of Michigan, was experimenting with powerful ultrasound pulses on pig hearts. Her aim was to find a non-surgical way to remove diseased tissue. The amplifier she used was so loud that labmates complained. To spare them, she shortened her ultrasound pulses to microseconds—rendering them inaudible. To her astonishment, the shorter bursts worked far better, mechanically breaking apart heart tissue in seconds.

That moment led to histotripsy, a method that destroys tumors through rapid cavitation—creating and collapsing microscopic bubbles that shred diseased tissue while sparing surrounding structures. The immune system then clears away the remnants naturally.

From experiment to clinic

Two decades later, Xu’s discovery has become an approved medical technology. In 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved histotripsy for liver tumors, and clinical trials have shown 95 % success in completely ablating targeted lesions. The U.K. National Health Service began offering it in 2024 under its Innovative Devices Access Pathway for unmet clinical needs.

“People think of ultrasound as imaging,” says Julie Earl, a principal investigator at Spain’s Ramón y Cajal Institute. “But research shows it can also destroy tumors, slow metastases, and enhance the effects of other treatments—all without a knife.”

During treatment, robotic arms guide ultrasound transducers to focus energy on a pinpoint—roughly the size of a pen tip. Each microsecond pulse forms and collapses microbubbles that tear apart tumor cells. Most patients go home the same day. A session typically lasts one to three hours, and many need only a single treatment.

There are still questions. Bone and air can block sound waves, limiting the technique’s use in the lungs or near the skull, and long-term data on cancer recurrence are still being gathered. Yet ongoing trials are exploring kidney and pancreatic tumors, and early results show a low rate of complications.

Cooking cancers with sound

Histotripsy builds on an older technology known as High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), which attacks tumors with heat rather than mechanical energy. “It’s like holding a magnifying glass over a leaf,” says Richard Price of the University of Virginia’s Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center. “The sound energy converges to a focal point and literally cooks the tissue.”

HIFU is already widely used for prostate cancer, where it offers similar effectiveness to surgery but with quicker recovery and fewer side effects. Like histotripsy, it’s performed under general anesthesia to keep patients still, but unlike histotripsy, HIFU generates heat that can occasionally damage nearby healthy tissue. Researchers are now adapting HIFU for breast and soft-tissue cancers, and robotic systems at Cleveland Clinic London and Virginia Commonwealth’s Massey Cancer Center are pioneering precision versions for prostate treatment.

Sound-enhanced therapies

The power of ultrasound may extend far beyond ablation. Scientists are learning that the same waves can open biological barriers and amplify other cancer treatments.

In Canada, Deepa Sharma at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has shown that injecting microbubbles into the bloodstream and activating them with ultrasound can temporarily open the blood–brain barrier. This allows chemotherapy or targeted drugs to reach brain tumors that would otherwise be shielded. The same approach can improve drug delivery to other tumor types while reducing systemic toxicity.

Her group also found that ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles can enhance radiation therapy by damaging tumor blood vessels, increasing cell death and allowing doctors to use lower doses of radiation. “Radiation cures cancer,” Sharma says, “but it causes many long-term side effects. If ultrasound lets us reduce the dose, patients benefit twice.”

Awakening the immune system

Researchers are also exploring ultrasound as an immune catalyst. When tumors are disrupted by sound waves, their debris exposes hidden antigens to the immune system, which can then recognize and attack similar cancer cells elsewhere in the body. Price’s group at the University of Virginia is testing whether combining ultrasound with immunotherapies like anti-PD-1 drugs can spark a systemic response.

“The dream,” he says, “is that treating one tumor teaches the immune system to find the rest.”

Clinical trials launched in late 2024 are testing this hypothesis in melanoma and metastatic prostate cancer, pairing focused ultrasound with checkpoint inhibitors to see whether immune activation extends survival. Early preclinical results are encouraging.

Emerging frontiers (2024–2025)

Recent studies show ultrasound’s potential is expanding even faster than anticipated:

• Immune modulation: At Northeastern University, scientists are using low-intensity ultrasound to recruit macrophages and T cells into tumors, potentially converting “cold” immune-resistant cancers into “hot” ones that respond to therapy.

• Ultrasound-activated drug delivery: Teams worldwide are developing nanoparticles and liposomes that release chemotherapy drugs only when exposed to ultrasound, improving precision and safety. One 2025 study demonstrated a “smart” immune-cell-targeted nanoparticle that releases its payload on command.

• Oncotripsy and low-intensity approaches: New modeling work suggests that cancer cells resonate differently from healthy ones. Ultrasound tuned to those frequencies can selectively destroy malignant cells—a concept dubbed oncotripsy—without heating or cutting tissue.

• Sonodynamic therapy (SDT): Combining ultrasound with sonosensitizing molecules that generate reactive oxygen species inside tumors is showing promise for deep, hard-to-reach cancers like pancreatic and glioblastoma.

• Autonomous and robotic systems: Prototype robots can now scan, locate, and target lesions using ultrasound imaging with minimal human input—pointing toward an era of AI-guided, incision-free oncology.

• New clinical indications: In 2025, the Focused Ultrasound Foundation announced nine new preclinical programs for pediatric brain tumors, melanoma, and breast cancer. Hospitals such as St. David’s Medical Center in Texas have begun using FDA-approved histotripsy devices for liver cancer, while European centers expand use to pancreas and kidney.

Promise and caution

The pace of innovation is remarkable, yet researchers urge caution. Ultrasound therapies remain complex, requiring precise calibration to avoid damage to surrounding tissues. And while results are promising, they won’t replace surgery or chemotherapy for all patients—at least not yet.

Still, the shift is unmistakable. Once merely a diagnostic tool, ultrasound is becoming a therapeutic platform: a way to break tumors apart, open the brain to medicine, and enlist the immune system—all guided by sound.

“Cancer is awful,” Xu says. “What makes it even worse is the suffering caused by treatment. If we can use sound to heal instead of harm, that’s a future worth building.”

mRNA cancer vaccines may provide a universal immune cure

I’m constantly reminding myself – and occasionally find myself telling others – that cancer isn’t a single disease but rather a vast array of diseases with some similar characteristics. Recent research into mRNA vaccines is calling into question that assertion.

Cancers are difficult to treat because tumors have built-in characteristics that confuse our immune systems. Tumors cloak themselves in a biochemical fog that confuses the immune system, turning immune cells from protectors into bystanders. Now, researchers are discovering that messenger RNA—the same genetic courier used in COVID-19 vaccines—can pierce that fog and reawaken the immune system’s natural vigilance. Across multiple continents, new mRNA cancer vaccines are beginning to show what many once thought impossible: training the body itself to recognize and destroy cancer.

Awakening the immune system

At the University of Florida, scientists recently developed an experimental mRNA vaccine that destroyed skin, bone, and brain tumors in mice when paired with existing immunotherapy drugs.
The approach doesn’t attack the cancer directly. Instead, it teaches the immune system to see tumor cells.

Cancer’s defensive barrier, known as the tumor microenvironment, is packed with molecules that suppress T-cells and block cytokine signals that would otherwise alert the body to danger.
Traditional immune checkpoint inhibitors—drugs like pembrolizumab (Keytruda)—work only when T-cells already recognize the tumor. The Florida team’s vaccine aimed to “wake up” the immune system first, so immunotherapy could finish the job.

A viral-style alarm

The vaccine uses mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles, similar to COVID-19 vaccines. Rather than coding for a viral spike protein, it encodes immune-signaling proteins that prompt a “virus-like” alarm throughout the body. This triggers production of interferons, messenger proteins that summon immune cells to infected—or cancerous—tissue.

When the vaccine was combined with PD-1 inhibitors, tumors in mice were eliminated. Even given alone, it sometimes wiped out resistant cancers. Dr. Elias Sayour, who led the study, called the results “unexpected and exciting.” The work, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, showed that a non-specific mRNA vaccine could sensitize the immune system to diverse tumors, effectively transforming cold, immune-resistant cancers into hot, attackable targets.

Sayour described it as “proof of concept” for a universal cancer vaccine—a single mRNA platform that could be tuned to stimulate immunity against many types of tumors without needing to identify a specific mutation first.

Beyond personalization

Cancer vaccine science has traditionally followed two paths: either designing vaccines against shared targets found in many cancers, or crafting custom vaccines based on each patient’s unique tumor mutations. The Florida study revealed a third approach—a generalized mRNA vaccine that doesn’t target cancer directly but stimulates such a strong immune response that dormant T-cells suddenly recognize and destroy it.

“This could be an off-the-shelf strategy,” said Duane Mitchell, co-director of UF’s Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy. “By generating a broad immunologic storm, you can awaken the body’s defenses instead of programming them cell by cell.”

Sayour’s lab had already demonstrated this concept in humans with a personalized mRNA vaccine for glioblastoma, which reprogramed the immune system within days and showed signs of prolonging survival. The new “generalized” vaccine goes further—replacing custom tumor sequencing with a single, broadly applicable formulation.

From concept to clinic

While the UF work remains in animals, human trials of mRNA cancer vaccines are now multiplying worldwide. The most advanced involve personalized mRNA vaccines combined with immunotherapy—and early results are promising.

In a Phase II melanoma trial, patients who received a personalized mRNA vaccine plus pembrolizumab had a 44 % reduction in recurrence compared to immunotherapy alone. Some participants have remained cancer-free for more than three years, suggesting the response is durable.

Another study in pancreatic cancer patients showed that an individualized vaccine (autogene cevumeran) produced strong T-cell responses and signs of long-term immune memory—a rare achievement in one of medicine’s most lethal diseases.

These results mark a turning point: mRNA cancer vaccines are no longer speculative—they are demonstrating measurable immunologic effects in humans.

Expanding the reach

Internationally, new programs are testing whether the same principles can work beyond melanoma and brain tumors.

• Lung cancer: BioNTech, the German firm behind the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, launched the world’s first mRNA lung cancer vaccine trial in 2024, enrolling more than 100 patients across seven countries. The vaccine, BNT116, is designed to treat or prevent recurrence of non-small-cell lung cancer, often in combination with checkpoint inhibitors.

• China: CSPC Pharma received approval to begin human clinical trials of an mRNA-based therapy (SYS6020) targeting multiple myeloma, marking one of the first China-developed RNA oncology programs to reach clinical testing.

• Breast and ovarian cancers: Several research groups are developing mRNA vaccines targeting HER2-positive and triple-negative tumors—aggressive subtypes that often relapse after chemotherapy.

• Australia: Trials on the Gold Coast are exploring mRNA vaccines to treat or prevent the recurrence of glioblastoma and other brain cancers, building on prior UF and BioNTech advances.

Together, these efforts signal the birth of a global mRNA oncology ecosystem, linking hospitals, biotech startups, and major pharmaceutical firms across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Innovations behind the scenes

Advances in computational biology are also fueling progress. New mRNA design algorithms can optimize codon usage, improve folding stability, and control the strength of immune activation, making vaccines both safer and more potent. Researchers are using machine learning to identify early immune-signature biomarkers that predict whether a vaccine will succeed, reducing trial times and improving patient selection.

At the same time, scientists are experimenting with mRNA drug delivery to specific organs—for instance, nanoparticles that focus on lymph nodes or bone marrow—turning the body’s immune hubs into manufacturing sites for anti-cancer proteins.

Promise and obstacles

Despite the excitement, challenges remain. Funding fluctuations in the United States, including a 2025 decision to wind down some federal mRNA programs, have raised concerns about sustaining momentum outside infectious-disease research. Technically, the hurdles are substantial: mRNA molecules degrade quickly, require precise lipid nanoparticle delivery, and can trigger unwanted inflammation if overactivated.

Yet most experts believe the field will continue to expand. The speed and adaptability of mRNA—scientists can design a new vaccine in weeks—make it ideal for rapidly evolving cancers. And as manufacturing costs drop, individualized vaccines could one day be produced locally within hospital labs.

Toward a universal vaccine

What excites researchers most is the growing evidence that mRNA vaccines can serve as immune amplifiers—not just for one cancer type, but for many. By priming the immune system with a “viral-style” alert, they appear to help checkpoint inhibitors, radiation, and even traditional chemotherapy work more effectively.

If this effect proves consistent in people, an off-the-shelf mRNA vaccine could become a companion therapy for nearly any solid tumor—a safe, repeatable way to rouse the immune system whenever cancer tries to return.

Dr. Mitchell put it simply: “It could be a universal way of waking up the body’s own response to cancer. And that would be profound.”

A new era for medicine

Twenty years ago, cancer vaccines were considered a dead end. Today, they are among the most dynamic areas in oncology research. From Florida’s universal mRNA mouse vaccine to BioNTech’s lung cancer trials, to early signs of success in pancreatic and brain cancers, mRNA increasingly seems to offer the long-sought solution to cancer's evasive ability—it appears to offer a way of teaching the immune system to heal itself. These vaccines now could mark one of the great medical turning points of our time: a shift from killing cancer with toxic chemicals to coaxing the body to remember, respond, and resist.

If you or a loved one is a cancer patient and are interested in accessing one or more of the therapies described above, experimental or now approved for use but not widely available, and are unsure how to do that, feel free to contact Emerging Cures. Persistent digging to find obscure clinical trials and other elusive facts is one of our specialties.

This article wraps up, at least for the next couple of months, our reports on emerging cancer drugs and therapies. Next week, we’ll move on to ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease and from there the emerging medical science for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, MS and Parkinson’s.