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.