Objective To probe the biological effect of percutaneous intratumoral injection of Chinese traditional medicine Star 99 in inducing the apoptosis of the hepatic cancer cell. Methods Twenty eight human hepatic carcinoma SMMC 7721 transplantation nude mice, of which 14 were hypodermic implanted patterns and 14 were liver orthotopic transplanted patterns, were randomly divided into three groups, which were Star 99 group containing 14 patterns, alcohol group and saline group containing 7 patterns respectively. The medicine were injected into the tumors of all the nude mice every 5 days. The nude mice were killed after being injected 4 times, 20 days after the first injection.The center tissures of the tumors were examined by electronic microscope and analysed by FCM DNA. Double blind was applied in the experiement. Results The ultrastructures of the hepatic cancer cells of the saline group after treatment were not remarkably changed. The major pathological change in the alcohol group was coagulation. The changes in the Star 99 group were multiple. It was worth noticing that the apoptosis cells or/and bodies could be seen in 92.9 % (13/14) of the tumors in the Star 99 group. The FCM DNA analysis showed that 92.9 % (13/14) in the Star 99 group appeared the apoptosis peaks of the tumor program necrosis. Yet 57.1%(4/7) in the saline group appeared the heteroploid peaks. Conclusion The compound Chinese medicine Star 99 has stronger effects of inducing and promoting the cellular self apoptosis, seem to have the function of arousing "suicide gene" and worth deeply studying.