Research Article Miniature Dielectric Barrier Discharge Nonthermal Plasma Induces Apoptosis in Lung Cancer Cells and Inhibits Cell Migration Surya B. Karki, 1 Eda Yildirim-Ayan, 1,2 Kathryn M. Eisenmann, 3 and Halim Ayan 1,4 1 Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA 2 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, OH 43614, USA 3 Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, University of Toledo Health Science Campus, Toledo, OH 43614, USA 4 Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Halim Ayan; halim.ayan@utoledo.edu Received 26 July 2016; Revised 22 November 2016; Accepted 19 December 2016; Published 24 January 2017 Academic Editor: Kwang Gi Kim Copyright © 2017 Surya B. Karki et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Traditional cancer treatments like radiotherapy and chemotherapy have drawbacks and are not selective for killing only cancer cells. Nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasmas with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) can be applied to living cells and tissues and have emerged as novel tools for localized cancer therapy. Te purpose of this study was to investigate the diferent efects caused by miniature DBD (mDBD) plasma to A549 lung cancer cells. In this study, A549 lung cancer cells cultured in 12 well plates were treated with mDBD plasma for specifed treatment times to assess the changes in the size of the area of cell detachment, the viability of attached or detached cells, and cell migration. Furthermore, we investigated an innovative mDBD plasma-based therapy for localized treatment of lung cancer cells through apoptotic induction. Our results indicate that plasma treatment for 120 sec causes apoptotic cell death in 35.8% of cells, while mDBD plasma treatment for 60 sec, 30 sec, or 15 sec causes apoptotic cell death in 20.5%, 14.1%, and 6.3% of the cell population, respectively. Additionally, we observed reduced A549 cell migration in response to mDBD plasma treatment. Tus, mDBD plasma system can be a viable platform for localized lung cancer therapy. 1. Introduction Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths [1]. According to the American Lung Association, lung cancer mortality rates are higher than that of colon, breast, and pros- tate cancers combined [2]. In 2015, approximately 158,040 Americans died from lung cancer, about 27 percent of all cancer deaths [3]. Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are conven- tional lung cancer treatment techniques used to combat the disease. Yet, all these techniques have some limitations [4–7]. Surgical resections commonly used to dissect the tumor may leave behind residual cancer cells. Radiotherapy involves a radiation hazard to normal tissue, while chemotherapy causes both neuropathies, poisons “healthy” cells at the vicinity of tumors, and induces side efects such as nausea, fu-like symp- toms, and hair loss [6, 7]. Furthermore, all these techniques have low therapeutic efciency. Researchers and clinicians have sought a “magic-bullet” therapy that induces apoptosis in cancer cells, while preserving the surrounding healthy cells [8, 9]. Plasma medicine is an emerging feld that has investi- gated the application of physical plasma in cancer therapy. Nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma has been utilized in various therapeutic applications including surface steril- ization [10–12], surface modifcation [13], blood coagulation [14], wound healing [15], bioflm inactivation [16–18], dental treatment [19–21], and cancer therapy [22–25]. Prior research in the application of plasma medicine in cancer treatment in a subset of cancers has demonstrated promising results. Hindawi BioMed Research International Volume 2017, Article ID 8058307, 12 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8058307