Effects of Fermented Wheat Germ Extract on Oral Cancer Cells: An In Vitro Study

Abstract

Oral carcinoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, and despite the advances in the therapy, its mortality is still high. An attention in cancer treatment has focused on natural compounds due to their potential beneficial effects on human health. In this study, the effects of dietary supplement Fermented Wheat Germ Extract (FWGE) on oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) cells were investigated In Vitro using three cell lines (HSC-3, SAS, SCC-25) with variable aggressiveness. The cell viability was significantly decreased by the treatment with high concentration of FWGE in every cell line. Regarding migration and invasion, HSC-3 and SCC-25 cells were most sensitive to FWGE since their movement was significantly reduced with 5 and 10 mg/ml FWGE, while SAS was inhibited only with 10 mg/ml FWGE. Chemotherapeutic compounds (cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil) significantly reduced all OTSCC cells viability. Importantly, combination of these drugs with 10 mg/ml FWGE significantly decreased the cell viability compared to the treatment with the chemotherapeutics or FWGE alone. Based on these In Vitro experiments, the use of FWGE seems to improve the anticancer effects on OTSCC cells. Further In Vivo and clinical studies should be conducted to verify the positive effects of FWGE for OTSCC patients.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Maija-Leena Lehtonen and Eeva-Maija Kiljander for expert technical assistance.

Disclosure of Interest

All authors declare that there are no competing interests, and no financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence this work.

Funding

The study was funded by authors’ institutions.

Authors’ Contributions

KZ, MR, DS conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. TS, LLM, ME conceived and designed the experiments, contributed reagents and wrote the paper. AS, GT performed the experiments, analyzed data. All authors read and approved the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the research in ensuring that the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.