Melanoma remains a deadly cancer despite significant advances in immune checkpoint blockade and targeted therapies. The incidence of melanoma is also growing worldwide, which highlights the need for novel treatment options and strategic combination of therapies. Here, we investigate non-thermal plasma (NTP), an ionized gas, as a promising, therapeutic option. In a melanoma mouse model, direct treatment of tumors with NTP results in reduced tumor burden and prolonged survival. Physical characterization of NTP treatment in situ reveals the deposited NTP energy and temperature associated with therapy response, and whole transcriptome analysis of the tumor identified several modulated pathways. NTP treatment also enhances the cancer-immunity cycle, as immune cells in both the tumor and tumor-draining lymph nodes appear more stimulated to perform their anti-cancer functions. Thus, our data suggest that local NTP therapy stimulates systemic, anti-cancer immunity. We discuss, in detail, how these fundamental insights will help direct the translation of NTP technology into the clinic and inform rational combination strategies to address the challenges in melanoma therapy.

中文翻译：

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局部非热等离子体治疗对黑色素瘤小鼠模型癌症免疫周期的影响


尽管免疫检查点阻断和靶向治疗取得了重大进展，但黑色素瘤仍然是一种致命的癌症。黑色素瘤的发病率在全球范围内也在增长，这凸显了对新的治疗选择和治疗策略组合的需求。在这里，我们研究非热等离子体（NTP），一种电离气体，作为一种有前途的治疗选择。在黑色素瘤小鼠模型中，用 NTP 直接治疗肿瘤可减少肿瘤负荷并延长生存期。原位 NTP 治疗的物理特征揭示了与治疗反应相关的沉积 NTP 能量和温度，肿瘤的全转录组分析确定了几种调节途径。 NTP 治疗还可以增强癌症免疫循环，因为肿瘤和肿瘤引流淋巴结中的免疫细胞似乎更容易受到刺激来发挥其抗癌功能。因此，我们的数据表明局部 NTP 疗法可刺激全身抗癌免疫力。我们详细讨论了这些基本见解将如何帮助将 NTP 技术转化为临床，并提供合理的组合策略来应对黑色素瘤治疗的挑战。