Cold plasma-based control of the activation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells

Abstract

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has shown strong anti-cancer capability in vitro and in vivo. The interaction between CAP and cancer cells build the foundation to understand the anti-cancer effect of a direct CAP treatment. The CAP-based activation phenomenon is a key factor to understand the CAP cancer treatment. The CAP-treated pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells instantaneously entered a specific activation state, in which these cancer cells become very sensitive to the cytotoxicity of both reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species. Here, we present a roadmap of control the basic operational parameters of the CAP jet (the helium flow rate, the discharge voltage, and the discharge frequency) on the activation. Among three parameters, the discharge voltage shows the largest impact on the activation phenomenon. The maximum activation effect occurred when the discharge voltage reached a medium level. A 0D chemical simulation revealed that such maximum activation effect may be due to the maximum densities of several short-lived reactive species in CAP jet at a certain level of discharge voltage.