Dr. Cristina Canal, invited speaker at IBEC Seminars

ERC APACHE project Scientific Coodinator and member of the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering research group (BBT, Dr. Cristina Canal, was invited to an IBEC (Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia) Seminar on July 6th, with a talk on "Cold atmospheric plasma: a novel potential therapy for cancer treatment".

Over the last few years, significant attention has been paid to biomedical applications of Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas (APP). Plasma chemistry leads to the generation of an abundance of reactive species which are suspected to play a key role in selective cancer cell death without damaging surrounding healthy tissues. The anti-cancer properties of the APP have been described in many cancer cell lines, such as breast, skin, lung, pancreas, cervix and brain cancers and only more recently in bone cancer cells. Although the cell death mechanisms are not yet precisely known, this selectivity towards cancer cells is associated in literature to the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) generated by the plasma treatment, among other potential actors. In this talk we will introduce different plasma oncology concepts and will discuss some of our first results related to plasma treatment and plasma activated medium treatment of osteosarcoma and the selectivity of the treatment.

The aim of these seminars is to provide the opportunity for top researchers to expose their work to relevant audiences and within a research centre known for its excellence.