Abstract: OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of piperine on proliferation and apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cell, and to explore its mechanism of Caspase 3/Bax/Bcl-2 signaling pathway. METHODS The human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells were divided into negative control group and 40, 20 and 10 μmol·L^-1 piperine groups. MTT assay, Trypan blue staining counting method and plate colony formation assays were used to test the effects of piperine on proliferation, growth curve of cells and colony formation. Hoechst 33258 staining was used to detect the effects of piperine on apoptosis of PANC-1 cells. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the effects of piperine on the expression levels of Caspase 3, cleaved-Caspase 3, Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA and protein in PANC-1 cells. RESULTS MTT, Trypan blue staining and plate colony formation assays showed that 40 and 20 μmol·L^-1 piperine could inhibit the proliferation, growth curve of cells and colony formation of PANC-1 cells. Hoechst 33258 staining showed that piperine 40, 20, 10 μmol·L^-1 could induce the apoptosis of PANC-1 cells. The results of RT-PCR and Western blotting showed that piperine 40, 10 μmol·L^-1 could up-regulate the expression of Caspase 3, Bax mRNA, up-regulate the expression of cleaved-Caspase 3 and Bax protein, and down-regulate the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA and protein in PANC-1 cells. CONCLUSION Piperine can inhibit the growth, proliferation and induce apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells, and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of the Caspase 3/Bax/Bcl-2 signaling pathway.