Cisplatin Loaded Nanoparticles for the Intraperitoneal Treatment of Ovarian Cancer

In this study, cisplatin was loaded onto functionalized and non functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles for the intraperitoneal treatment of ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the 2nd most common gynecological cancer in the United States, and only 30% of patients survive five years with distant spread. Cisplatin is a platinum chemotherapeutic that acts on cellular DNA to cause cellular apoptosis; however, current clinical trials using intraperitoneal (IP) administration of cisplatin lead to acute abdominal toxicity. In this study, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were designed and loaded with cisplatin with the potential for IP treatment of ovarian cancer. Physical loading and conjugated loading using poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) of cisplatin were compared between MCM type 41 MSNs and Dendritic MSNs. MSNs were successfully synthesized, functionalized with PAA, and characterized using dynamic light scattering, nanoparticle tracking analysis, TEM (positive and negative staining), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Functionalized and non-functionalized MCM-41 MSNs were successfully loaded with cisplatin. Future studies will focus on optimizing cisplatin loading by saturating the loading procedure with cisplatin and performing in vitro release studies, cytotoxicity studies, and biodistribution studies