Cold atmospheric plasma treatment of melanoma and glioblastoma cancer cells

Abstract

In this paper, two types of melanoma and glioblastoma cancer cell lines are treated with cold atmospheric plasma to assess the effect of several parameters on the cell viability. The cell viability decreases with treatment duration and time until analysis in all cell lines with varying sensitivity. The majority of dead cells stains both AnnexinV (AnnV) and propidium iodide, indicating that the plasma‐treated non‐viable cells are mostly late apoptotic or necrotic. Genetic mutations might be involved in the response to plasma. Comparing the effects of two gas mixtures, as well as indirect plasma‐activated medium versus direct treatment, gives different results per cell line. In conclusion, this study confirms the potential of plasma for cancer therapy and emphasizes the influence of experimental parameters on therapeutic outcome.