AbstractGalangin, an active flavonoid extracted from the root of the Alpinia officinarum Hance, showed a cytotoxic effect on several cancer cell lines in vitro. However, there is no information available concerning its antimetastatic effect. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase, is involved in many aspects of cellular processes such as proliferation, adhesion, and invasion. Studies have shown that FAK is a promising target for therapeutic intervention in melanoma. In the present study, proliferation of B16F10 cells was suppressed when exposed to various doses of galangin. Inhibition on proliferation by galangin was also detected by clonogenic survival assay. The capabilities of cell adhesion, cell spreading, and cell motility were impaired by galangin, reinforced by F‐actin rearrangement. Molecular data showed that both FAK mRNA level and protein level were reduced dose‐dependently. Additionally, galangin reduced phosphorylation of FAK (Tyr397) protein. Transient transfection reporter assays showed that galangin suppressed the transcription of FAK gene, indicating FAK expression is a candidate target of galangin. The antimetastatic function of galangin is further supported by the fact that it could inhibit the formation of tumor colonies in the lung tissue on C57BL/6J mouse lung metastatic model using B16F10 melanoma cells. Immunochemical analyses showed that galangin decreased FAK expression in vivo. These data add to our new understanding that galangin can inhibit B16F10 melanoma metastasis both in vivo and in vitro, and that FAK is a valid therapeutic target against melanoma. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 152–161, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.