ISSN : 2146-3123
E-ISSN : 2146-3131

Promising, Novel Radiosensitizer Nanodrug Complex for Oral Cavity Cancer: Cetuximab and Cisplatin-Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles
Şeniz İnanç Sürer1, Tarık Buğra Elçitepe2, Doğukan Akçay3, Ezgi Daşkın4, Gizem Çalıbaşı Kocal5, Zümre Arıcan Alıcıkuş3, Görkem Eskiizmir6, Kerim Yapıcı7, Yasemin Başbınar5
1Department of Medical Biochemistry, Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, İzmir, Turkey
2Department of Energy Science and Technology, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey
3Department of Radiation Oncology, Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, İzmir, Turkey
4Department of Translational Oncology, Institute of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey
5Department of Translational Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey
6Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Manisa Celal Bayar University School of Medicine, Manisa, Turkey
7Department of Chemical Engineering, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey
DOI : 10.5152/balkanmedj.2021.21013
Pages : 278-286

Background: Nanomedicine has provided promising tools for the imaging, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) may be useful in enhancing the efficacy of radiotherapy, such as radiosensitization, in cancer therapy.
Aims: To develop a nanodrug complex containing cetuximab (C225,CTX) and cisplatin (CDDP) conjugated with GNPs and to investigate its cytotoxic effects on oral cavity cancer cells when combined with radiotherapy.
Study Design: In vitro cell culture study.
Methods: The GNPs were synthesized and successfully conjugated with cetuximab and cisplatin. Cell viability was monitored by the xCELLigence real-time cell analysis (RTCA) single-plate (SP) system in GNP-treated UPCI-SCC-131 cells for 48 hours. Cells with/without GNPs were irradiated with 6 MV X-rays, and colony formation was assayed to investigate the long-term effects of GNPs and the nanodrug complex after irradiation on radiotherapy-resistant oral cavity cancer cells.
Results: The GNPs entered the tumor cells, and GNP–CDDP (P <.0001) and GNP–CDDP–CTX (P < .0001) were shown to cause a decrease in cell viability. GNP and GNP–CTX combined with radiotherapy led to greater reduction on UPCI-SCC-131 colony numbers, than radiation alone (P = .0369) and radiation with free CTX, with sensitizing enhancement ratios of 1 : 2 and 1 : 9, respectively.
Conclusion: The cetuximab and cisplatin-conjugated gold nanodrug complex has a great potential to increase cytotoxicity and overcome resistance to radiotherapy, in the treatment of oral cavity cancer.

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