Can tumor growth be further inhibited by combining drugs such as bortezomib with image-guided interventional oncologic procedures?

Poff et al (1) were able to demonstrate delayed tumor growth of murine squamous cell carcinoma in an orthotopic C3H murine tumor model when adding pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) as an adjunctive pretreatment to bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor. In essence, this combination therapy induced greater apoptosis than did the drug alone and enabled the achievement of equivalent efficacy with a substantial dose reduction of a potentially toxic drug.