• Chia-Ming Liu, Chih-Yu Peng, Yi-Wen Liao, Ming-Yi Lu, Meng-Lun Tsai, Jung-Chun Yeh, Chuan-Hang Yu, and Cheng-Chia Yu.
• School of Dentistry, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
• J Formos Med Assoc. 2017 Jan 1; 116 (1): 41-48.

Background/PurposeCancer stem cells (CSCs) are deemed as the driving force of tumorigenesis in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). In this study, we investigated the chemotherapeutic effect of sulforaphane, a dietary component from broccoli sprouts, on targeting OSCC-CSCs.MethodsThe effect of sulforaphane on normal oral epithelial cells (SG) and sphere-forming OSCC-CSCs isolated from SAS and GNM cells was examined. ALDH1 activity and CD44 positivity of OSCC-CSCs with sulforaphane treatment was assessed by flow cytometry analysis. In vitro and in vivo tumorigenicity assays of OSCC-CSCs with sulforaphane treatment were presented.ResultsWe observed that the sulforaphane dose-dependently eliminated the proliferation rate of OSCC-CSCs, whereas the inhibition on SG cells proliferation was limited. Cancer stemness properties including self-renewal, CD44 positivity, and ALDH1 activity were also decreased in OSCC-CSCs with different doses of sulforaphane treatment. Moreover, sulforaphane treatment of OSCC-CSCs decreased the migration, invasion, clonogenicity, and in vivo tumorigenicity of xenograghts. Sulforaphane treatment resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the levels of tumor suppressive miR200c.ConclusionThese lines of evidence suggest that sulforaphane can suppress the cancer stemness and tumor-initiating properties in OSCC-CSCs both in vitro and in vivo.Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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