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Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing is funding 30 places in Asia's first clinical trials of histotripsy for kidney tumours, extending his push to bring the scalpel-free cancer treatment to the region beyond liver and pancreatic cancers.
The Li Ka Shing Foundation said on Nov. 11 that three private hospitals will take part in the trials: CUHK Medical Centre, Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong and Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital. The 30 trial places were provided to the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Medicine, which will run the research.
Histotripsy uses focused ultrasound waves to create tiny bubbles inside a tumour that break up the diseased tissue, with no incisions, needles or radiation. The technology, developed by U.S. company HistoSonics Inc., won U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for liver tumours in 2023.
Hong Kong becomes the first city in Asia to test the treatment on kidney tumours.
A long bet on one machine
Li has made histotripsy one of his main philanthropic causes. His foundation partnered with HistoSonics in August 2024 to launch the first histotripsy programs in Hong Kong, starting with liver cancer patients. The machines were later moved to private hospitals, and Gleneagles became the first private hospital in the city to offer the treatment.
The foundation has since helped take the technology to other parts of Asia. In 2025 it joined Temasek Trust in a commitment to buy histotripsy systems and run clinical trials in Singapore, and a hospital in Taipei has also started using the treatment.
The technology still has doubters, who question whether the clinical evidence so far matches the commercial claims made for it. The kidney trials are meant to produce data on its use in a new organ.
Hong Kong's richest man
Li, 98, left school at 15 after his father's death and started out selling plastic flowers before building Cheung Kong Holdings into a property and ports empire. His companies, now CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and CK Asset Holdings Ltd., run ports, telecom networks, retail chains and utilities across more than 50 countries. He retired as chairman in 2018, handing control to his elder son, Victor Li.
Forbes ranks him as Hong Kong's richest person. He has said he considers his foundation his "third son" and has pledged to give a third of his assets to it.
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