| AVS 65th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology Division | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session PS+PB-TuM |
| Session: | Plasma Medicine |
| Presenter: | Vandana Miller, Drexel University |
| Authors: | Miller, Drexel University A. Lin, Drexel University P. Ranieri, Drexel University A. Snook, Thomas Jefferson University A. Fridman, Drexel University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Non-thermal plasmas are currently being developed as an alternative therapy for cancer. Local application of plasma to tumors in vivo has led to reduced tumor size and increased life expectancy of treated animals.[1] The body’s immune system plays a vital role in the control of cancer.[3] In fact, cancer immunotherapy, the control of cancer by employing components of the patient’s own immune system, is emerging as an appealing strategy.[3] New approaches being explored include increasing the immunogenicity of tumor cells by inducing immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD).[4] ICD of cancerous cells has been demonstrated with certain chemotherapeutic drugs and through physical methods such as X-ray therapy and UVC.[5, 6] Cells undergoing ICD express damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) which assist immune responses that may mediate systemic elimination of cancer.[4] We have demonstrated that non-thermal plasma is a good candidate for cancer therapy via immunomodulation by:
direct effects on immune cells[7, 8] and
indirect effects of cancer cell ICD.[8]
The role of plasma augmentation on the immune system, based on our in vitro and in vivo studies, will be discussed as a potential modality for clinical application in cancers. In vivo studies using Balb/c mice inoculated with subcutaneous CT26 colorectal cancer cells, treated with nspDBD plasma showed DAMP signal expression and recruitment of immune cells in the local tumor environment. Furthermore, there was development of a systemic, tumor-specific immune response. This demonstrates that plasma elicits ICD locally, in the treatment area, which leads to beneficial host immune responses both locally and systemically. The clinical potential of plasma cancer immunotherapy will be discussed and the challenges to address will be identified for further development of this technology. Results from a small clinical trial will also be presented.
References
[1] Keidar, M., et al., Br J Cancer, 105, 2011.
[2] Schlegel, J., J. Köritzer, and V. Boxhammer, Clinical Plasma Medicine, 1, 2013.
[3] Mellman, I., G. Coukos, and G. Dranoff, Nature, 408, 2011.
[4] Krysko, D.V., et al., Nature Reviews Cancer, 12, 2012.
[5] Kalbasi, A., et al., The Journal of clinical investigation, 123, 2013.
[6]Zitvogel, L., et al., Nature Reviews Immunology, 8, 2008.
[7] Kaushik, N.K., et al., Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 49, 2016.
[8] Lin, A., et al., Plasma Processes and Polymers, 12, 2015.