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Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in interventional oncology

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Abstract

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has evolved from the use of agitated saline to second generation bioengineered microbubbles designed to withstand insonation with limited destruction. While only one of these newer agents is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use outside echocardiography, interventional radiologists are increasingly finding off-label uses for ultrasound contrast agents. Notably, these agents have an extremely benign safety profile with no hepatic or renal toxicities and no radiation exposure. Alongside diagnostic applications, CEUS has begun to develop its own niche within the realm of interventional oncology. Certainly, the characterization of focal solid organ lesions (such as hepatic and renal lesions) by CEUS has been an important development. However, interventional oncologists are finding that the dynamic and real-time information afforded by CEUS can improve biopsy guidance, ablation therapy, and provide early evidence of tumor viability after locoregional therapy. Even more novel uses of CEUS include lymph node mapping and sentinel lymph node localization. Critical areas of research still exist. The purpose of this article is to provide a narrative review of the emerging roles of CEUS in interventional oncology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Sriharsha Gummadi

  2. Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Sriharsha Gummadi, John R. Eisenbrey & Andrej Lyshchik

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  1. Sriharsha Gummadi
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Correspondence to Andrej Lyshchik.

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Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health under the award numbers R01CA194307 and R01CA215520. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Conflicts of interest

The authors report non-financial and grant support from GE Healthcare and Toshiba Medical Systems outside the submitted work.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Because all clinical vignettes contain only de-identified retrospective data and are utilized for educational purposes only, no consent outside standard procedural consent was requested of any patients.

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Gummadi, S., Eisenbrey, J.R. & Lyshchik, A. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in interventional oncology. Abdom Radiol 43, 3166–3175 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-018-1581-5

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