AIM: To study inhibitory effect on proliferation of docetaxel on murine angiosarcoma cell line (ISOS-1) and compare with etoposide. METH ODS: In vitro, the inhibitory effect on proliferation of docetaxel and etoposide on ISOS-1 cells were carried out by Alamar Blue assay. In vivo study, after murine angiosarcoma model establishment, seventy mice were divided into trial and control group with 5 mice for each group. The dosages of docetaxel and etoposide were 5, 10, 20 mg · kg-1 respectively through administration by intravenous (iv) or intraperitoneal (ip) injection. The iv injection was performed once a week and total 4 times as one course. The ip injection was taken once a day, keeping for 5 d as a course and then repeated once more after 2 wk. The control group was injected with the normal saline. The volumes of the tumors and the survival days were calculated. RESULTS: In vitro study, the IC5o of docetaxel for ISOS-1 cells was 15.8 μg · L-1 showing obviously lower than that of et oposide group ( 1. 175 mg · L-1 ). In vivo study, the anti-tumor effect of docetaxel was better than that of et oposide at three different doses by iv, and all the in hibitory rates of tumor volume were more than 70 %. The life prolonging effect of 5 mg · kg- 1 docetaxel was similar to that of etoposide 10 mg · kg-1. The adverse reactions of ip injection were stronger than those of ivinjection. The dosage of etoposide 20 mg · kg-1 almost reached the lethal dose. CONCLUSION: Docetaxel shows obviously inhibitory effects on proliferation of murine angiosarcoma cell line (ISOS-1), which is superior to that of etoposide. It is safe and effective with low dosage once a week by iv.