OBJECTIVE: To study in vitro anticancer activity of conjugated linoleic acid-gemcitabine conjugate (CLA-GEM). METHODS: IC50 of different tumor cells (breast cancer MCF-7 cell, breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell, lung cancer A549 cell, small cell lung cancer NCI-H446 cell, glioma C6 cell) were investigated after treated with different concentrations (0.001-100 μmol/L) of CLA-GEM and gemcitabine (GEM) for 72 h; survival rates of MCF-7 cell were investigated after treated with above solution for 24, 48 and 72 h. The dependence of 0.001-100 μmol/L CLA-GEM and GEM to nucleoside transporter was investigated (by IC50) through MCF-7 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells treated with nucleoside transporter inhibitors (NBMPR, 100 μmol/L) and dipyridamole (4 μg/ml). The change of MCF-7 cell cycle was investigated after treated with 1 μmol/L CLA-GEM and GEM for 24 h. RESULTS: Compared with GEM, IC50 of MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and NCI-H446 cells became lower after treated with CLA- GEM (P<0.01), there were no statistical significances in IC50 between A549 and C6 cells (P>0.05). Survival rate of MCF-7 cells decreased significantly after treated with GEM for 48 h and CLA-GEM for 24 h. Survival rate of MCF-7 cells was the lowest, being 21% after treated with GEM for 72 h, while tumor cells were sacrificed by CLA-GEM completely. Compared with GEM or CLA-GEM, IC50 of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells increased significantly after treated with NBMPR, dipyridamole combined with GEM (P<0.01); there were no statistical significance in IC50 after treated with NBMPR, dipyridamole combined with CLA-GEM (P>0.05). Compared with GEM, CLA-GEM could prolong 6% of S stage of MCF-7 cells (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with GEM, CLA-GEM exhibits significant antitumor activity and rapid action, and it isn’t influenced by nucleic acid transportation.