Human gastric cancer is the fifth common cancer with considerable metastasis potential, and its high incidence and mortality rate threaten public health. In this study, we examined the anticancer effects of lobaplatin on the human gastric carcinoma cell line BGC-823 in vitro, and explored its relative mechanisms. The results of MTT assay showed dose-and time-dependent cytotoxicity in BGC-823 cells with lobaplatin. Flow cytometry (FCM) assay indicated that lobaplatin affected BGC-823 cells' survival by inducing apoptosis. Western blot analysis also demonstrated that the occurrence of its apoptosis was associated with activation of Cleaved caspase-3 and Bax, downregulation of Bcl-2. Moreover, lobaplatin could also increase the reactive oxygen species (ROS) slightly and decrease the mitochondrial membrane potential (DYm) obviously, elucidating that lobaplatin may induce apoptosis via mitochondriadependent apoptotic pathway. Furthermore, lobaplatin markedly blocked BGC-823 cells migration and invasion, and the reduction of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression were also observed in vitro. Our findings demonstrated the chemotherapeutic potential of lobaplatin for treatment of human gastric carcinoma cell line BGC-823 by inhibiting proliferation, inducing apoptosis and attenuating cell migration and invasion. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.