Sophoridine is a quinolizidine alkaloid isolated from Leguminous plant Sophora flavescens. Sophoridine induces apoptosis. Sophoridine has the potential to be a novel, potent and selective antitumor drug candidate for pancreatic cancer with well-tolerated toxicity.In Vitro: Sophoridine (0-500 μM; 48 hours) exhibits remarkable inhibition effects to the growth of human pancreatic, gastric, liver, colon, gallbladder, and prostate carcinoma cells with IC50 values of about 20 μM to 200 μM.Sophoridine (0-20 μM; 48 hours) increases S phase cell population from 26.23% (control) to 38.67% in Miapaca-2 cells and from 29.56% (control) to 39.16% in PANC-1 cells, about a 1.5-fold and a 1.3-fold increase, respectively.Sophoridine (0-20 μM; 48 hours) significantly increases bad and bax levels, and decreases bcl-2 and bcl-xl levels in contrast, with a significant increase in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio.In Vivo: Sophoridine (intraperitoneal injection; 20 or 40 mg/kg; 21 days) can inhibit the growth of xenograft pancreatic tumors.