Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
Basic Research in Plasma Medicine - A Throughput Approach from Liquids to Cells
Published on: November 17, 2017
Cold plasma selectivity and the possibility of a paradigm shift in cancer therapy
M Keidar1, R Walk, A Shashurin
1Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA. keidar@gwu.edu
Background:
Plasma is an ionised gas that is typically generated in high-temperature laboratory conditions. However, recent progress in atmospheric plasmas has led to the creation of cold plasmas with ion temperature close to room temperature.
Methods:
Both in-vitro and in-vivo studies revealed that cold plasmas selectively kill cancer cells.
Results:
We show that: (a) cold plasma application selectively eradicates cancer cells in vitro without damaging normal cells; and (b) significantly reduces tumour size in vivo. It is shown that reactive oxygen species metabolism and oxidative stress responsive genes are deregulated.
Conclusion:
The development of cold plasma tumour ablation has the potential of shifting the current paradigm of cancer treatment and enabling the transformation of cancer treatment technologies by utilisation of another state of matter.
More Related Videos
09:01Magnetic-, Acoustic-, and Optical-Triple-Responsive Microbubbles for Magnetic Hyperthermia and Pothotothermal Combination Cancer Therapy
Published on: May 22, 2020
09:23Inducing Targeted Mild Hyperthermia in Murine Tumor Models through Photothermal Conversion of Near-infrared Light by Intratumoral Gold Nanorods
Published on: October 10, 2025
Related Concept Videos
02:57Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against specific...
02:49Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
02:50Combination Therapies and Personalized Medicine
The combination of the drug acetazolamide and sulforaphane is a good example of combination therapy to treat cancer. The cells in the interior of a large tumor often die due to the hypoxic and...