Care Plan

On August 31, 2022, at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, Esther became the first patient in the world to receive the SonALAsense treatment for DIPG.  The right side of the tumor was treated first, and received 28 sonifications.  This is a modernized combination of chemotherapy and radiation-therapy.  The chemical is the drug SonALA-001, which is activated six hours after infusion by a Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (LIFU) which is the radiation.  The chemical contains a compound which rapidly-dividing cells (a.k.a. tumors) need, but when the ALA is activated by the ultrasound, the ALA becomes a Trojan Horse which unleashes a surprise attack on the tumor cells from within.  The intent is to kill the tumor cells, and only the tumor cells, with extreme prejudice.

On September 28, 2022, Esther received the first treatment post-MRI which showed the tumor was similar and stable.  On October 3, 2022, Esther received the second sonodynamic treatment to the left side of the tumor.  It received 56 sonifications.

On November 2, 2022, Esther had her first post-treatment MRI, which showed a 17% reduction in tumor size and an overall more normal appearance of the tumor cells!