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    Cold argon plasma as adjuvant tumour therapy on progressive head and neck cancer: A preclinical study
    (Basel : MDPI, 2019) Hasse, Sybille; Seebauer, Christian; Wende, Kristian; Schmidt, Anke; Metelmann, Hans-Robert; Woedtke, Thomas von; Bekeschus, Sander
    Investigating cold argon plasma (CAP) for medical applications is a rapidly growing, innovative field of research. The controllable supply of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species through CAP has the potential for utilization in tumour treatment. Maxillofacial surgery is limited if tumours grow on vital structures such as the arteria carotis. Here CAP could be considered as an option for adjuvant intraoperative tumour therapy especially in the case of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Further preclinical research is necessary to investigate the efficacy of this technology for future clinical applications in cancer treatment. Initially, a variety of in vitro assays was performed on two cell lines that served as surrogate for the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and healthy tissue, respectively. Cell viability, motility and the activation of apoptosis in SCC cells (HNO97) was compared with those in normal HaCaT keratinocytes. In addition, induction of apoptosis in ex vivo CAP treated human tissue biopsies of patients with tumours of the head and neck was monitored and compared to healthy control tissue of the same patient. In response to CAP treatment, normal HaCaT keratinocytes differed significantly from their malignant counterpart HNO97 cells in cell motility only whereas cell viability remained similar. Moreover, CAP treatment of tumour tissue induced more apoptotic cells than in healthy tissue that was accompanied by elevated extracellular cytochrome c levels. This study promotes a future role of CAP as an adjuvant intraoperative tumour therapy option in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Moreover, patient-derived tissue explants complement in vitro examinations in a meaningful way to reflect an antitumoral role of CAP. © 2019 by the authors.
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    Physical plasma-treated saline promotes an immunogenic phenotype in CT26 colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2019) Freund, Eric; Liedtke, Kim Rouven; van der Linde, Julia; Metelmann, Hans-Robert; Heidecke, Claus-Dieter; Partecke, Lars-Ivo; Bekeschus, Sander
    Metastatic colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death. Current options in palliation such as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) present severe side effects. Recent research efforts suggested the therapeutic use of oxidant-enriched liquid using cold physical plasma. To investigate a clinically accepted treatment regimen, we assessed the antitumor capacity of plasma-treated saline solution. In response to such liquid, CT26 murine colon cancer cells were readily oxidized and showed cell growth with subsequent apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and upregulation of immunogenic cell death (ICD) markers in vitro. This was accompanied by marked morphological changes with re-arrangement of actin fibers and reduced motility. Induction of an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition phenotype was not observed. Key results were confirmed in MC38 colon and PDA6606 pancreatic cancer cells. Compared to plasma-treated saline, hydrogen peroxide was inferiorly toxic in 3D tumor spheroids but of similar efficacy in 2D models. In vivo, plasma-treated saline decreased tumor burden in Balb/C mice. This was concomitant with elevated numbers of intratumoral macrophages and increased T cell activation following incubation with CT26 cells ex vivo. Being a potential adjuvant for HIPEC therapy, our results suggest oxidizing saline solutions to inactivate colon cancer cells while potentially stimulating antitumor immune responses.