Objective:To investigate the effects of phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 on growth, apoptosis and cell invasion of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cell line HTH-15. Methods:To perform the experiments, cells were divided into two groups: DMSO control group and LY294002(0~100 μmol/L) treated group. The proliferation inhibitory rate of HTH-15 cells treated by different doses of LY294002 was evaluated by MTT assay; the distribution of cell cycle was calculated by flow cytometry; the protein expression level of phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 in HTH-15 cells were detected by Western blot; Transwell chamber was applied to investigate cell invasion. Results:The growth of HTH-15 cell line was inhibited by LY294002, and this inhibition was in a time and dose-dependent manner. Treated with different concentration of LY294002, the percentage of cells in G1 phase was remarkably higher than that of DMSO control group(P < 0.05); And the protein expression level of p-Akt and MMP-2 in LY294002 group was significantly down-regulated compared to that of DMSO control group (P < 0.05). The cell invasion capacity was also inhibited when treated with LY294002. Conclusion:PI3K-AKT pathway does exist in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma HTH-15 cells, and LY294002 can inhibit the growth of HTT-15 cells through PI3K-Akt pathway,induce apoptosis, and reduce cell invasion ability. PI3K-Akt pathway presents an appealing therapeutic target on Anaplastic.