Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42281808›Full record

ReviewNeuro-oncology advances2026

Applications of transcranial focused ultrasound for primary brain tumors.

Ahmad Ozair, Bilal Moiz, Pavlos Anastasiadis, Dheeraj Gandhi, Chetan Bettegowda, Paul S Mischel, Jinpyo Hong, Manmeet S Ahluwalia, Graeme F Woodworth

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Neuro-oncology advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Focused ultrasound for brain metastases.Neuro-oncology advances · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Ahmad OzairBrain Tumor Program, University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6570-4541
Bilal MoizDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7378-6399
Pavlos AnastasiadisFischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.
Dheeraj GandhiDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0230-7925
Chetan BettegowdaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9991-7123
Paul S MischelSarafan Chemistry, Engineering, and Medicine for Human Health (Sarafan ChEM-H), Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4560-2211
Jinpyo HongPenn State College of Medicine, Penn State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
Manmeet S AhluwaliaDepartment of Translational Medicine, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3794-9511
Graeme F WoodworthFischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9663-0768

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Individuals diagnosed with primary brain tumors (PBTs) experience major morbidity and mortality, compounded by the risks associated with standard-of-care brain-directed therapeutic approaches. Recurrence remains inevitable in patients with high-grade gliomas (HGG), due to their brain-infiltrative growth hindering surgical removal, immunosuppressive tumor-microenvironment, dynamic disease evolution from their high cellular and molecular heterogeneity, and multi-faceted challenges to brain drug delivery, primarily stemming from the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This expert narrative review describes the current state of transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS), and its multi-modal applications for PBTs, including delivery of therapeutic agents and sono-liquid biopsy (via BBB opening), immunomodulation, radio-sensitization, and direct destruction of tumor cells/tissue via thermoablation, histotripsy, and sonodynamic therapy. BBB opening-based approaches have the most promising clinical evidence so far, warranting randomized comparative evalutions. Further translation will require standardized FUS treatment protocols, translational investigations nested into trials, coordinated global efforts, strategic trial design incorporating methodological advances, and implementation approaches enabling broader participation. Worldwide efforts to advance FUS will be aided by ongoing device evolution, support from professional societies, and the development of FUS research consortia (like ReFOCUSED). FUS applications open a potential combinatorial path forward with systemic therapies for "adaptive theragnostic" tumor management, thus targeting the root causes of therapeutic failure for HGG patients.

Indexed as

brain malignancyCNS cancerpulsed ultrasoundtherapeutic ultrasound

Identifiers

PMID42281808
PMCPMC13250581

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.