New insights of cerium oxide nanoparticles in head and neck cancer treatment

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a genetically complex cancer type having treatment difficulties due to affecting multiple organs in complex anatomical sites. Radiotherapy resistance, chemotoxicity, post-surgery disability makes HNC treatment more complicated. Therefore, there is need to developed new treatment approaches. Nanoparticle-based therapies especially cerium oxide nanoparticles with its anti-cancer features, high catalytic activity, anti- or pro-oxidant and radio-protective properties give a boon for HNC treatment. In the current study, two dextran-coated cerium oxide nanoparticles (Dex-CeNPs) namely SD1 and SD2 were synthesized and characterized by using two types of dextran (D1 and D2) having distinct molecular weights and branching characteristics to understand their potential as a new HNC treatment strategy while evaluating the role of dextran type. The effectivity of the SD1 and SD2 on the HNC cell lines (A253, SCC-25, FaDu) were investigated by analyzing their cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation properties. Low IC₅₀ value, high ROS generation and stability profiling of SD2 compared to SD1 indicates the distinct function of dextran type on Dex-CeNPs effectivity on HNC. To better elucidate the effectivity of SD2, flow cytometry analysis and pro-apoptotic (TP53, CASP3, BAX) and anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) gene expression profiling were investigated in detail. The findings indicate that SD2 exhibits an influence on head and neck cancer cells via the apoptotic pathway. Our research sets the framework for the development of Dex-CeNPs as remarkable nanotherapeutic candidates for treatment of head and neck cancer.