Therapeutic Approaches Based on Plasmas and Nanoparticles

In vitro Demonstration of Cancer Inhibiting Properties from Stratified Self-Organized Plasma-Liquid Interface

“…Indeed, the idea was put forward recently to use a plasma-stimulated media 7 – 10 to produce highly active complex material enriched with ROS, RNS and other active species to directly treat the tumor cells. Specific strategies amendable for adaptation of plasma-stimulated media were proposed but not yet realized 11 . Among them are the approaches based on miniaturization of discharge (and ultimately, involvement of micro-discharge and micro plasmas), and self-organizational phenomena.…”

New Paradigm for a Targeted Cancer Therapeutic Approach: A Short Review on Potential Synergy of Gold Nanoparticles and Cold Atmospheric Plasma

“…Though the elucidation of the exact mechanism of CAP response on tumor cells still remains enigmatic, several mechanisms have been proposed, including apoptosis via reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species and cell cycle disruption [ 8 , 23 ]. CAP uniquely confer a rich environment of reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), electrons, charged particles, photons, and electric fields [ 8 , 28 ]. Still the controversy with respect to plasma-cell interaction has not yet been well comprehended [ 29 ].…”

“…Cold Atmospheric Plasma being the combination of light energy, reactive chemical species and charged particles, there is enough space to define a synergy between CAP and GNPs [ 39 ]. The overall synergy by integration of GNPs and CAP as a therapeutic approach provides a promising tool for developing newer cancer therapeutic strategies, which go beyond simple combination, and can potentially shed new light on cancer therapy [ 28 ].…”

“…They showed that treatment with CAP along with GNPs significantly induced U87 glioblastoma human brain cancer cell death, withup to a 30% overall increase compared to the control group with plasma treatment but no GNPs [ 39 ]. Furthermore, gold nanoparticles were endocytosed with the significantly accelerated rate in U87 cell membrane when treated with plasma, while no significant difference in gold nanoparticle penetration in normal cells was observed [ 28 , 41 ]. It was concluded that nanoparticles coupled with cold plasma would decrease cell viability, allowing CAP to be more efficient [ 41 ].…”

“…From these studies, one can summarize that combining the pros of GNPs and CAP together could be a boon in many aspects, like enhancing the effects of plasma, even at low doses, and promoting GNPs’ effect on and uptake by the cell. In addition, directing therapeutic approaches this way could lead to an overall decrease in cytotoxicity, with increased targeted efficacy [ 28 ]. Moreover, a recent study has pointed out the combination of cold atmospheric plasma and iron nanoparticles in decreasing the viability of cancer cells [ 44 ].…”