Treatment of gastric cancer cells with nonthermal atmospheric plasma generated in water

Z. Chen, L. Lin, X. Chen, E. Gjika, and M. Keidar

Gastric cancer is one of the most aggressive types of carcinomas and it is known as the second most common cause of death. Worldwide, the number of newly diagnosed cases is predicted to reach 930,000 per year. Although gastric cancer is usually managed by chemotherapy or surgery, its 5-year survival rate is approximately 15%. Therefore, efforts to improve survival rates of patients with gastric cancer are one of the main challenges in current research.

Non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) can be applied to living cells and tissues due to selective cell death without influencing the heathy tissue. The unique properties of NTAP have enabled recent biomedical applications including wood healing, sterilization, blood coagulation, tooth bleaching, skin regeneration and cancer therapy. NTAP is known for the generation of charged particles, electronically excited atoms, (Reactive Oxygen Species) ROS, (Reactive Nitrogen Species) RNS, etc. ROS and RNS, combined or independently, are known to promote cell proliferation as well as cell death. Additionally, extreme amounts of reactive species may lead to the damage of DNA, proteins, lipids, senescence and induce apoptosis. Recent studies showed that indirect NTAP
therapy can significantly affect cancer cells. However, there are almost no studies that report on using NTAP to treat gastric cancer cells, let alone NTAP generated in DI water.