New review on cold plasma for cancer treatment: current state and future research directions

PhD student Milica Zivanic et al. have just published a comprehensive review article on cold atmospheric plasma and the cancer immunity cycle in Advanced Science.

The cancer immunity cycle is a series of steps that lead to anti-tumor immunity. Since cancer cells are very heterogenous, even within the same patient, they can respond differently to the same treatment, so that some cells might survive. In addition, cancer is prone to metastasis. For this reason, many cancer therapies aim to not only kill cancer cells but also help activate anti-tumor immune responses. Namely, cells of the immune system can travel throughout the body to find and kill any remaining or metastatic cells. This helps ensure durable therapeutic effects.

The review can be divided into three parts. The first part summarizes and explains different mechanisms in which plasma was observed to promote anti-tumor immune responses. The second part discusses the current clinical limitations of plasma technology. The final part presents plasma-treated hydrogels as a novel approach that could help overcome some of the clinical limitations of plasma.

Based on their previous research experience within the scope of APACHE, the authors also offer practical and theoretical considerations for developing plasma-treated hydrogels.

Link to publication: doi.org/10.1002/advs.202205803.