Sensitivity to physical versus chemical factors in CAP

To date, reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species have been regarded as the key factors causing the observable cellular death of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP)-treated cancer cells. The chemical basis of the conventional CAP treatment highlights apoptosis as the main CAP-triggered cell death mechanism.

However, in a recent study published in the Journal of Physics, Michael Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D., director of Transitional Urology at Children’s National Hospital, and other experts demonstrated a strong anti-melanoma effect based on physically-based CAP treatment. The study, which also tested bladder cancer, compared the anti-cancer effect of chemically-based versus physically-based CAP treatment on four typical cancer cell lines in vitro.