Soft coral Lobophytum crassum extract inhibits migration and induces apoptosis capabilities in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells

Background/purpose: The extract of the soft coral Lobophytum crassum has shown an anti-cancer activity in various cancer cells. However, its effect on the oral squamous cell carcinoma cell (OSCC) lines remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the anti-cancer effects of the extract of L. crassum (C127) on the OSCC cells. Materials and methods: This study evaluated the effects of the soft coral extract of L. crassum (C127) on SAS and Ca9-22 cells, cell viability, migration ability, and apoptosis. Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) was parallelly used on SAS cells to confirm the results. Results: C127 affected cell viability, morphology, and migration ability in both cell lines. In SAS cells, C127 inhibited cell viability in a dose dependent manner (P < 0.001) and induced apoptosis at 10 μg/mL (P < 0.05). In addition, C127 significantly inhibited migration ability on both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study illustrated the potential of marine-derived compounds of L. crassum on its activity against OSCC cells.