Abstract: The object was to study the mechanism of inhibitory and tumor killing effects of two kinds of Chinese traditional herbs, rhizoma curcumate zedoariae and herbra trifolii repentis. Lung cancer cell line A549 was adopted as target cell. The reseach examined tumor cell apoptosis induced by the herbs with flow cytometry when the target cell was cultured with the herb substration for 24 h. The substraction both two kinds of herbs can induce tumor cell apoptosis. The great synergic effect to induce target cell apoptosis was also found out. The results suggested that to induce target cells apoptosis is the main mechanism to inhibit and kill tumor by the herbs.

Key words: rhizoma curcumate zedoariae, herbra trifolii repentis, human lung cancer cell, apoptosis