Formononetin exhibits anticancer activity in gastric carcinoma cell and regulating miR‐542‐5p

Formononetin exhibits anti‐neoplastic activities in specific types of cancers, such as colon carcinoma and breast cancer. Nevertheless, its role in suppressing gastric carcinoma (GC) growth and metastatic‐associated phenotypes has not been fully understood. Here, we demonstrated that formononetin decreased the viability of GC cell line SGC‐7901 and MGC‐803. Furthermore, formononetin suppressed the migration and invasion abilities of GC cells. Consistent with the results in vitro, the anticancer effect of formononetin was verified using xenograft model. The expression of microRNA‐542‐5p (miR‐542‐5p), acted as an oncogene in many cancers, was identified to be upregulated in GC. Importantly, miR‐542‐5p might involve in formononetin exhibits anticancer activity in GC cells. Taken together, these results indicate that formononetin inhibits the growth and aggressiveness of GC cells in vitro and in vivo.