Dose-dependent killing of leukemia cells by low-temperature plasma

The effect of low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma towards the progression of cancerous human T-cell leukemia cells was investigated. The plasma pencil, which utilizes short duration high voltage pulses, was used to generate a low-temperature plasma (LTP) plume in ambient air. Our data showed that cell morphology and cell viability were affected in a dose-dependent manner after treatment with LTP. The outcome of this study revealed that the effect of plasma exposure was not immediate, but had a delayed effect and increasing the time of plasma exposure resulted in increased leukemia cell death.