The Use of Cold Plasma in the Treatment of Cancer

Abstract

Despite recent advances in treatment, cancer is  still an overwhelming and life-threatening disease, motivating innovative research lines in oncology. Cold physical plasma, a partially ionized gas, is a new modality in cancer research. Physical plasma presents different physicochemical elements, chiefly reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), causing cancer cell death when supplied at Supraphysiological concentrations. The biological effects of plasma therapy in experimental cancer treatments are discussed in this article, along with cell death techniques. It also provides an overview of the most recent research on the intracellular signaling pathways activated by plasma therapy to cause cancer cell death. Along with rendering tumor cells inactive, the inflammatory environment in which cell death occurs to inhibit or enhance immune cell responses is also crucial. This is mainly directed by releasing of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) to provoke immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD) that, in turn, activates cells of the innate immune system to stimulate adaptive antitumor immunity. Many clinical studies and successful research involving checkpoint immunotherapy have demonstrated the critical role that the immune system plays in the prevention and treatment of cancer. As a result, it is also considered if plasma therapy has the potential to cause ICD in tumor cells and so boost systemic immune targeting of cancer lesions