癌症治疗包括手术、化疗、放疗和免疫疗法等多学科治疗的综合使用。尽管通过全面的基因组和表观基因组分析揭示了癌症机制，并发展了分子治疗，但药物耐受性和严重的副作用对新疗法的长期发展提出了挑战。随着过去十年技术的快速进步，现在有关非平衡大气压等离子体（NEAPP）在癌症治疗中的潜在应用的报告。已经尝试了两种方法：直接用NEAPP照射（直接等离子体）和通过NEAPP激活的液体（如培养基、盐水、林格液）的给药（等离子体活化溶液：PAS）。直接等离子体是一种独特的治疗方法，各种活性物质、带电离子和光子被输送到受影响区域，但直接等离子体方法受到设备的物理限制，如有限的深度和有限的照射面积。 PAS是一种含有由PAS生成的反应性氧化物的液体，已经确认具有类似于直接等离子体的抗肿瘤活性。本综述介绍了PAS的最新研究，并告知研究人员PAS在癌症治疗中的潜力。关键政策亮点包括PAS在癌症治疗中的潜在应用、PAS产生的等离子体活化物种、其对肿瘤细胞的作用、对非恶性免疫细胞的贡献、选择性和安全性。还介绍了迄今为止PAS的抗肿瘤机制。已在实验动物模型中研究了PAS的疗效和安全性评估，但尚未进行人体研究。

Cancer therapy consists of multidisciplinary treatment combining surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. Despite the elucidation of cancer mechanisms by comprehensive genomic and epigenomic analyses and the development of molecular therapy, drug resistance and severe side effects have presented challenges to the long-awaited development of new therapies. With the rapid technological advances in the last decade, there are now reports concerning potential applications of non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma (NEAPP) in cancer therapy. Two approaches have been tried: direct irradiation with NEAPP (direct plasma) and the administration of a liquid (e.g., culture medium, saline, Ringer's lactate) activated by NEAPP (plasma-activated solutions: PAS). Direct plasma is a unique treatment method in which various active species, charged ions, and photons are delivered to the affected area, but the direct plasma approach has physical limitations related to the device used, such as a limited depth of reach and limited irradiation area. PAS is a liquid that contains reactive oxygen species generated by PAS, and it has been confirmed to have antitumor activity that functions in the same manner as direct plasma. This review introduces recent studies of PAS and informs researchers about the potential of PAS for cancer therapy.Key Policy HighlightsPotential applications of plasma-activated solutions (PAS) in cancer therapy are described.Plasma-activated species generated in PAS, its effect on tumor cells, contribution to non-malignant immune cells, selectivity and safety are presented.The proposed anti-tumor mechanisms of PAS to date are described.Efficacy and safety evaluations of PAS have been studied in experimental animal models, but no human studies have been conducted.