Making History with Histotripsy

Swedish First Hill is the first hospital in the Pacific Northwest to provide a new treatment option for liver cancer called histotripsy. We’re innovation leaders of this technology, pioneering the technique to target lesions in all segments of the liver. As a result, we’ve performed over 100 histotripsy procedures and treated liver cancer patients on a local, regional and national level.

This form of treatment provides hope to patients who aren’t candidates for surgery or have tried other forms of treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation without success. Additionally, this noninvasive, FDA-approved procedure has minimal side effects; patients have little-to-no down time afterward.

Safe and effective care

Studies have shown that histotripsy is a safe and effective addition to treatments currently available for cancer and liver tumors; this includes radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. Early clinical trials show a promising success rate, indicating that physicians can precisely target and destroy liver tissue and tumors that cannot be completely removed through surgery.

The benefits of histotripsy include:

• Achieving the same results as surgery with a noninvasive procedure
• Targeting a very distinct treatment area, making the procedure highly controllable, highly predictable and more precise
• Fewer side effects
• Minimizing the risk of infection, bleeding and other complications
• Offering hope to patients who cannot tolerate surgery or receive radiation or chemotherapy as a viable treatment option

What to expect

Histotripsy works by using targeted ultrasound waves to form microbubbles within the tumor. As the bubbles form and collapse, they cause the mass to break apart and kill tumor cells. The debris left behind is cleaned up by the immune system.

The robotic-assisted histotripsy procedure is performed and controlled by our specially trained surgical oncologists using sophisticated imaging technology.

Patients receive general anesthesia to minimize movement during the procedure, but it isn’t painful. Patients typically go home the same day that they get the procedure.

Our approach

Swedish continues to bring innovative, advanced treatment through clinical research and our entire team’s expertise. We work in a collaborative environment to focus on you – not your disease.

We fight cancer using every available tool. This includes the rapidly developing science of gene sequencing, innovative treatments and therapies like histotripsy and the compassionate care and support that you and your loved ones deserve.