Objective To study the effect of curcumol on proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell line CNE2 in vitro and to investigate the feasibility of curcumol for the treatment of NPC. Methods Nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE2 cells were treaded with curcumol of different concentrations. The cell proliferation inhibition rates, apoptosis ratios and cell cycle status at different timepoints were detected with MTT and flow cytometry. Results The CNE2 proliferation was inhibited in dosedependent and timedependent manners after treated by curcumol. 48h after treatment，the apoptosis ratios showed increasing trends with the increased concentration of curcumol and CNE2 cells showed G2/M phase blockage with a dosedependent way. Conclusion By inhibiting the proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE2 cells in vitro, inducing cell apoptosis and preventing the cell cycle in G2/M phase, curcumol has an antitumor potential.