MR-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Conjunction With Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer

In this study, safety and feasibility of MR-guided HIFU hyperthermia application will be assessed in patients diagnosed with locally advanced cervical cancer. This site has reasonable soft tissue pathways and depths for the ultrasound to access with limited osseous or air interference. Additionally, of cervical cancer patients who develop recurrence following standard treatment, approximately 1/3 will recur locally and an additional 1/3 recur both locally and distantly. Risk of local failure increases with higher FIGO staging. Therefore, patients with locally advanced cervical cancer stand to benefit from adjuvant hyperthermia to potentially increase local disease control outcomes. While MR-HIFU may conceivably increase risk for local complications such as fistula formation, these risks are felt to be acceptable given the potential morbidity of local disease failure, which often can only be addressed curatively by pelvic exenteration. In this study, testing will be performed within tumor volumes involving the cervix uteri. Heating will be to the therapeutic level of 41-42°C for 30-60 minutes, a commonly utilized therapeutic target. This session duration will be achieved in either a single session either before or after the radiotherapy fraction or in an optional two sessions of 15-30 minutes both before and after the radiotherapy fraction, for a total time of 30-60 minutes one day per week. This study will help to elucidate the feasibility of achieving and maintaining therapeutic hyperthermia within an entire tumor volume over the goal period of time of 30-60 minutes. The investigators anticipate that successful completion of this study will lead to further clinical trials investigating the treatment efficacy in terms of added local control compared to traditional, standard-of-care radiotherapy.