A simple change to the chemotherapy regimen for people with Hodgkin lymphoma could reduce the long-term health impacts that can result from treatment, according to researchers in Cambridge. The findings could lead to the national guidance on chemotherapy treatment for these patients being revised.

Last year, Penn State biomedical engineering researchers developed an ultrasound imaging technique to visualize the movement of a type of immune cell called a macrophage, which works to heal wounds and fight infections in the body. With a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, the team will now apply the technology to monitor the transport of genetically engineered, cancer-fighting macrophages into brain tumors. Simultaneously, they will use ultrasound to deliver drugs that increase the effectiveness of the macrophages, “supercharging” their potential to attack brain cancer cells.