Copper complex with sulfamethazine and 2,2'-bipyridine supported on mesoporous silica microspheres improves its antitumor action toward human osteosarcoma cells: cyto- and genotoxic effects.

Ideal drugs to cure cancer leave normal cells unharmed while selectively turning tumor cells unviable. Several copper complexes have been able to selectively slow down tumor proliferation. We hypothesized that Cu(smz)(bipy)·HO (1)-a copper-complex that has two ligands capable of interacting with DNA-would outperform Cu(smz)(OH)·2HO (2), and also that supporting 1 on mesoporous silica spheres would decrease even further tumor cell viability in vitro.