Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) is the 7th most common cancer worldwide. Despite the development of new therapeutic agents such as monoclonal antibodies, prognosis did not change for the last decades. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) presents the most promising new technology in cancer treatment. In this study the efficacy of a surface micro discharging (SMD) plasma device against two head and neck cancer cell lines was proved. Effects on the cell viability, DNA fragmentation and apoptosis induction were evaluated with the MTT assay, alkaline microgel electrophoresis (comet assay) and Annexin-V/PI staining. MTT assay revealed that the CAP treatment markedly decreases the cell viability for all tested treatment times (30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 s). IC 50 was reached within maximal 120 seconds of CAP treatment. Comet assay analysis showed a dose dependent high DNA fragmentation being one of the key players in anti-cancer activity of CAP. Annexin-V/PI staining revealed induction of apoptosis in CAP treated HNSCC cell lines but no significant dose dependency was seen. Thus, we confirmed that SMD Plasma technology is definitely a promising new approach on cancer treatment.
Highlights
Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC), including malignancies of the oral cavity, the pharynx and the larynx, is the 7th most common cancer worldwide contributing over 4% of the total number of new cancer cases in 2012
Reduction of viability was set to 0% so that the results -expressed in negative per cent of the control- allow the doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141827.g005
For FaDu cell cells viability was significantly reduced by 4,8% (p
Summary
Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC), including malignancies of the oral cavity, the pharynx and the larynx, is the 7th most common cancer worldwide contributing over 4% of the total number of new cancer cases in 2012. This means, nearly 600.000 new diseases are diagnosed per year worldwide [1]. For 2014, 55.070 new cases and 12.000 deaths are estimated in the USA. The average 5-year survival rate is about 50%, which is mainly due to the high rate of metastasis, second malignancies and especially local recurrence of these tumors [2]. Despite new approaches in the treatment of head and neck cancer such as monoclonal antibodies the PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0141827 November 20, 2015
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