Apoptosis induction effects of EGCG in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells through telomerase repression.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major component of green tea polyphenol, has potent efficiency to prevent the growth of a variety of cancer cells. As a novel anticancer agent for treatment of cancers, EGCG is promising and the mechanism has not been fully understood. Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is one common tumor in head and neck cancers. In the present study, we assess the effects of EGCG on LSCC cell line Hep-2, and their possible involvement in EGCG-induced apoptosis. The result showed that treatment of Hep-2 cells with EGCG decreased the cell viability, inhibited the growth and proliferation, induced apoptosis and increased the activity of caspase-3 in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, we found that EGCG-treatment repressed telomerase activity effectively in a concentration-dependent manner. The combined results show that EGCG induced apoptosis in Hep-2 cells via inhibiting the telomerase activity.