Open Questions in Cold Atmospheric Plasma Treatment in Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT: Over the past decade, we witnessed a promising application of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in cancer therapy. The aim of this systematic review was to provide an exhaustive state of the art of CAP employed for the treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC), a tumor whose late diagnosis, local recurrence, distant metastases, and treatment failure are the main causes of patients' death. Specifically, the characteristics and settings of the CAP devices and the in vitro and in vivo treatment protocols were summarized to meet the urgent need for standardization. Its molecular mechanisms of action, as well as the successes and pitfalls of current CAP applications in HNC, were discussed. Finally, the interesting emerging preclinical hypotheses that warrant further clinical investigation have risen.

SUBMITTER: Perrotti V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9498988 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature