Resumen
The incidence of head and neck cancer (HNC), one of the most aggressive cancers, is increasing rapidly globally. Conventional and targeted therapies show limited success with several undesirable side effects. Thus, there is a critical clinical need to identify additional alternative therapeutic strategies for successfully managing the disease. Preclinical and clinical studies indicate the crucial roles of dietary phytochemicals to manage different cancers. We and others previously showed the potential anticancer effect of bitter melon extract (BME) to prevent various cancers, including HNC. In this study, we identified momordicine-I (M-I) as a bioactive component in the BME. Subsequent mechanistic study showed that M-I inhibited HNC cell (JHU022, JHU029, Cal27) proliferation involving c-Met and downstream signaling. In pre-clinical mouse models, M-I showed similar effectiveness to prevent HNC tumor growth in mice with no apparent toxic side effect, suggesting an additional option for HNC therapy.