Anticancer effects of genistein, green tea catechins, and cordycepin on oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most frequent form of oral cancer and holds the eighth position in the cancer incidence ranking. OSCC patients are treated by classical therapeutic modalities consisting of surgery, radiotherapy, and/ or chemotherapy. But OSCC still shows significant mortality rates. Thus, new therapeutic approaches have been investigated and the most promising one is naturally acquired agents with known anti-cancer effects. Genistein is a compound extracted from soy bean. Its anti-cancer effect on breast cancer is well established now and it is investigated whether it has similar effect on OSCC. It inhibited the growth and invasiveness of OSCC cells in vitro, but these effects did not work in living animals in vivo. Catechin is a compound from green tea and its anticancer effect on OSCC is known better than other agents. Catechin showed its anti-cancer effect in vitro via induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, inhibition of growth, and down-regulation of invasion/ metastasis. These effects were confirmed in vivo with mouse model. Cordycepin is one of major pharmacologically important components in Cordyceps Militaris and may exert its anti-cancer effect as an adenosine receptor agonist. In recent study, it inhibited the proliferation of OSCC cells via A3 adenosine receptor. But because there is very scarce evidence on this effect, more researches are needed on this theme.