Effects of high-energy shock waves combined with biological response modifiers or Adriamycin on a human kidney cancer xenograft.

We have studied the effect of high-energy shock waves (HESW) alone or in combination with biological response modifiers (BRMs) or Adriamycin on the growth of the NU-1 human kidney cancer xenograft. When HESW are administered repeatedly (four sessions of 800 shock waves on days 0, 2, 4 and 6) a prolonged delay in tumor growth was found compared with that following a single administration. This effect was temporary, and several days after stopping the HESW administration the tumor regained its original growth potential (same doubling time).