Dosing: The key to precision plasma oncology

• Published in: Plasma processes and polymers Vol. 17; no. 10
• Main Authors: Dai, Xiaofeng, Zhang, Zhifa, Zhang, Jianying, Ostrikov, Kostya (Ken)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-10-2020
• Subjects: Cancer; cold atmospheric plasma; dosing; Plasma; precision medicine; Selectivity
• ISSN: 1612-8850; 1612-8869
• DOI: 10.1002/ppap.201900178

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is an emerging oncotherapeutic approach with selectivity for cancer cells. It can induce different cell survival and death programs depending on the CAP dose, and it can function as a neo or adjuvant therapy against cancer. Establishing an evaluation system for precise CAP dosing is the key to make plasma therapy act alone or in combination with other therapeutic modalities for achieving desirable treatment responses. By classifying CAP‐induced effects and associating them with the dosing of plasma‐reactive agents, we identify opportunities for CAP to contribute to precision oncotherapy and discuss challenges en route to clinical applications. We emphasize the importance of dosing in plasma medicine and encourage cross‐disciplinary collaborations to develop suitable dosing metrics.
Dosing is the key to harness the selectivity and efficacy of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) against cancer cells and developing a feasible evaluation system for precise CAP dosing is the key to make CAP act alone or in combination with other therapeutic modalities for achieving desirable therapeutic outcomes. We underline the importance of plasma dose and encourage interdisciplinary collaborations toward the establishment of suitable plasma dose metrics.