Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue has a low survival rate, with cure rate reduced by half if cervical lymph node metastasis is present. Standard treatment regimen includes surgical resection of the tumor, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. These treatment modalities, however, can result in irreversible side effects including loss of form and function of the tongue. So far, there is no efficient treatment regime targeting migration and invasion of tongue carcinoma. Curcumin is a natural polyphenol extracted from Curcuma longa. Recent studies indicated that curcumin is a potential anti-cancer agent. The anticancer effects have been demonstrated in numerous cancers including lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma. In head and neck cancers, the number studies is limited and its inhibitory effects in migration and invasion is rarely explored. To explore the global expression changes in tongue cancer, we used microarray to evaluate the genes responsive to curcumin treatment and focused on genes related to migration and invasion of tongue cancer cell line HN21B. The genes down-regulated by curcumin were validated in HN21B and two other tongue cancer cell line CAL27 and HN96 using qRT-PCR, Western blotting and immunostaining. The identified genes were quantified in tongue carcinoma tissues to examine whether it was up-regulated in human tongue tissues. Scratch wound assay and radial-migration assay were used to assess the degree of inhibition on migration. Adhesion and invasion assays were also performed to assess the adhesion and invasion ability. Transcriptomic analyses showed that MMP-10 was 2.36 fold down-regulated in HN21B in response to curcumin. Curcumin treatment resulted in down-regulation of MMP-10 gene in all the 3 tongue carcinoma cell lines at mRNA and protein levels. Out of 24 tongue carcinoma cases, 55% tumor tissue had obvious up-regulation of MMP-10 expression in comparison with the normal counterpart. Adhesion, migration and invasion ability of tongue carcinoma cell lines was significantly reduced upon IC50 of curcumin treatment in all TSCC cell lines. In conclusion, our results indicated that curcumin could reduce migration, adhesion and invasion in tongue carcinoma cells partly through reducing MMP-10 expression. Further investigations are warranted to explore the potential therapeutic use of curcumin to inhibit migration and invasion of tongue carcinoma cells. / published_or_final_version / Surgery / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Surgery / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Surgery / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Surgery / Master / Master of Philosophy