Objective To investigate perilla oil on human breast cancer MCF7 cell growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis , and provide a theoretical basis for the development of perilla oil anti-tumor .Methods Breast cancer MCF7 cells were treated with different dilutions of perilla oil to do tumor cell growth inhibition MTT experiment ,to observe the changes in the nuclear morpholo-gy of apoptotic cells with Hoechst 33258 and PI staining and fluorescence microscopy ,and to detect rate of apoptosis and apoptotic peak with flow cytometry .Results Perilla oil inhibited the proliferation on human breast cancer cell line MCF7 with a time-and concentration-dependent manner .Typical apoptotic nuclear morphological changes could be observed with Hoechst 33258 and PI staining under a fluorescence microscope .Detected by flow cytometry ,apoptosis rate was increased with time and concentration . Conclusion Perilla oil can inhibit human breast cancer MCF7 cell proliferation and induce apoptosis ,suggesting that it may be used as an anticancer drug in clinical practice .