Anticancer effect of surface functionalized nano titanium dioxide with 5-fluorouracil on oral cancer cell line—An in vitro study

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a chemotherapeutic agent widely used to treat different types of cancers. However, many patients present with obstacles during treatment due to 5-FU drug resistance. To overcome these drawbacks, a novel drug-loaded nanocarrier (NC) comprising titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles surface functionalized with 5-FU to facilitate drug delivery is developed. This study designs and evaluates the antitumour effects of NCs in oral cancer (OC) cell lines of lymphoid origin. NCs were synthesized by biofunctionalization of TiO₂ nanoparticles with 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) which was then loaded with 5-FU. in vitro drug release was determined at three different pH values. The effect of chemotherapy was studied in mono- and co-culture systems comprising OC cells and human gingival fibroblasts (hGFs). From these studies, it is noted that after 24 h in an acidic medium (pH 5.5), more than 80% of 5-FU was released compared to that at basic pH. The cytotoxicity was higher when 5-FU was combined with the system TiO₂-APTES, in comparison with 5-FU alone was used. The drug-loaded NC showed an increased antitumour effect in the OC cell line with minimal cytotoxicity to hGFs. The anticancer effect of TiO₂/5-FU could be highly effective in the tumour microenvironment.