OBJECTIVE： To study induction effect of euphornin on the apoptosis of cervical cancer Hela cells and its mechanism. METHODS： The cervical cancer Hela cells were divided into blank control group， cisplatin group （positive control， 10 mg/L） and euphornin low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （50， 100， 200 mg/L）. They were treated with relevant medicine. The inhibitory effect of Hela cells proliferation was tested by MTT assay after 24， 48， 72 h of medicine treatment. The apoptotic rate of Hela cells was measured by flow cytometry after 48 h of medicine treatment. Morphology of nucleus was detected by Hoechst 33258 staining. The protein expression of Cyt-C，Bcl-2，Bax，Caspase-3，Caspase-8，Caspase-9 and Caspase-10 were detected by Western blot assay. RESULTS： Compared with blank control group， inhibitory rate of cell proliferation and cell apoptosis rate were increased significantly in cisplatin group and euphornin groups （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）， and obvious staining， deformation， shrinking， fragmentation or apoptotic bodies was found in nucleus. Compared with blank control group， the protein expression levels of Cyt-C， Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 in euphornin low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups were increased significantly， while the protein expression level of Bcl-2 and Bcl-2/Bax ratio were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）； the protein expression levels of Bax，Caspase-3 and Caspase-10 in euphornin medium-dose and high-dose groups were increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： Euphornin can significantly inhibit the proliferation of Hela cell and promote cell apoptosis， the effect of which will be achieved by activating the Caspase-dependent mitochondrion apoptosis pathway.