Objective To investigate the effects of apoptosis and related gene p21WAF1 and Bcl-2 in the tumorigenesis of primary gallbladder neoplasms. Methods p21WAF1 and Bcl-2 were detected by immunohistochemistry and apoptotic cells were stained in situ by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated-dUTP nick end labeling(TUNAL) in 46 cases of primary gallbladder neoplasms with different histological grades. Results Apoptotic index and p21WAF1 were decreased,but the expression of Bcl-2 was increased with the increasing of the histological grades in primary gallbladder neoplasms (P