Objective:To explore the effects of borneol combined with cisplatin (DDP) on cell proliferation and cell cycle and apoptosis of human esophageal carcinoma cell line Eca109(DDPr). Methods:The human esophageal carcinoma cell line Eca109 was exposed to continuous stepwise-increased concentration of DDP. Drug-sensitivity was measured by MTT. The cell cycle and apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry. Results:After 6 months of stepwise drug exposure,the cell could normally grow and propagate in the medium with 1 μg/ml of DDP,and exhibited a resistance index of 15.886 against DDP. The cell line was named Eca109(DDPr). MTT assay showed that borneol at the concentration of no more than 1.560 μg/ml had no obvious inhibition on the growth of Eca109(DDPr) cells(P > 0.05),but it could significantly promote the inhibition of DDP(1 μg/ml) on the proliferation of Eca109(DDPr) cells(P < 0.05). Compared with using DDP alone,borneol combined with DDP could change the cell cycle,significantly increase the number of cells in G1 stage(P < 0.05) and decrease the number of cells in S stage and G2 stage(P < 0.05),and obviously promote the apoptosis of Eca109(DDPr) cells(P < 0.05). Conclusion:Borneol can promote the inhibition of DDP on the proliferation of Eca109(DDPr) cells,the mechanism may be related to change cell cycle and increase apoptosis of Eca109(DDPr) cells.