Bee venom exhibits anti-cancer effects on tongue carcinoma cells by arresting cell cycle, inducing apoptosis, and suppressing cell migration.

Objective: Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is an aggressive oral cancer with notable treatment resistance. This in vitro study investigated anti-cancer effects of honey bee venom (BV)-a mixture of bioactive compounds-on the human TSCC cell line.

Methodology: The cytotoxicity of serial BV concentrations (0.01-100 µg/mL) was tested on the cultured human TSCC cell line (HNO-97) to determine the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value. Group I (BV) included cells treated with IC50 of BV, and Group II (control) received no treatment; both were incubated for 48 hours. The apoptotic effect of BV was evaluated using the Annexin V assay and the BAX and BCL-2 gene expression. The BV effect on cell viability, proliferation, and division was evaluated by cell cycle assay. Additionally, Transwell migration assays were performed to demonstrate the potential impact of BV on cell migration.

Results: BV showed dose-dependent cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative activity on HNO-97 cells (IC50: 12.96 μg/mL). The treated group exhibited cell cycle arrest, reduced cell migration, significantly decreased BCL-2 gene expression (p=0.001), and increased BAX gene expression (p=0.03) compared to the untreated group.

Conclusion: BV demonstrated anti-cancer activity on human TSCC by inducing apoptosis and inhibiting cell migration. These findings warrant further preclinical investigations to evaluate BV as an alternative for current tongue carcinoma therapies.