Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) modified with Pt and carboxyl groups were designed and the drug molecule-release behaviour was studied by loading cisplatin as a model anticancer drug. The MSNs had a high surface area (342 m2 g−1) and dual pores (3.3 and 33.4 nm) with a uniform size. The amount of cisplatin loaded in the nanopores was 74.9 mg g−1. Drug release was approximately two times higher under acidic conditions (pH 4.0) than under neutral conditions (pH 7.3). The cell viability was tested using three types of cancer cells (A549, A2780, and MCF-7). When the drug-free samples (Surfactant-extracted MSNs, COOH-MSNs) were applied at a concentration of 500 μg ml−1, the cancer cell death did not show any differences (Cell survival rate of approximately 82.7–85.7%). On the other hand, cancer cell death was more pronounced with excellent performance when drug-loaded MSNs (Pt/COOH-MSNs) were applied at the same concentration (Cell survival rate 3.6% for A549, 15.8% for A2780, 12.8% for MCF-7, respectively). This result may give more generalised insights in developing effective and universal nanocarrier of an anticancer drug by using multiple cell lines instead of using any single cancer cell line. Display omitted •A mesoporous silica with carboxyl groups was designed as a support for loading of cisplatin.•The mesoporous silica was synthesized hydrothermally using tetraethyl orthosilicate and cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate.•The cisplatin as anticancer drug in nanopores showed the controlled release behavior by pH stimuli (pH 4.0 and 7.3).•The cisplatin-loaded hybrid (Pt/COOH-MSNs) exhibited good anticancer activity for three cells, i.e. A549, A2780, and MCF-7.•Pt/COOH-MSNs could give more generalised insights in developing effective and universal nanocarrier of an anticancer drug.