BACKGROUND:Most pancreatic carcinomas are clinically insensitive to chemotherapeutics. The exact mechanisms of their apoptosis and multiple drug resistance are obscure at present. This study was undertaken to explore the inlfuence of chemotherapy on anti-proliferation, apoptosis and the cell cycle, and lay a fundamental basis for further research into the apoptotic mechanisms and prevention of multiple drug resistance in pancreatic carcinoma. METHODS: The human pancreatic carcinoma cell line BxPC-3 was cultured in vitro. The growth inhibition rate, cell cycle and apoptotic rate of cells treated with 5-lfuorouracil (5-FU), sulfasalazine alone or a combination at different concentrations were evaluated with the MTT method and lfow cytometry. Phase-contrast microscopy was used to observe morphological changes in the cells treated with 5-FU, sulfasalazine or both for 24 hours. RESULTS:The growth inhibition rate of the BxPC-3 cells treated with 5-FU and sulfasalazine signiifcantly increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The growth inhibition rate of the cells treated with 5-FU gradually increased, but decreased at different concentrations of sulfasalazine for a prolonged period. The apoptotic rate of the BxPC-3 cells induced by sulfasalazine (200 mg/L), 5-FU (100 mg/L) or both for 12 hours were (2.68±0.36)%, (6.59±0.90)%, and (10.52±0.55)%, respectively, compared with the corresponding control values were (3.17±0.08)%, (1.50±0.06)%, and (4.08±0.31)% [(t=2.33 (P>0.05), 9.78 and 17.56 (P