OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) on the proliferation and apoptosis of acute leukemia cell HL-60. METHODS HL-60 cells were cultured with PDTC of 0, 25, 50, 100 μmol/L for 24, 48, 72 h. The inhibition rate of cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay. Cell apoptosis was detected by Hoechst staining. Cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2), BCL-2 associated X protein (BAX), cyclinD1, activated cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase (cleaved caspase 3), cleaved caspase 8 and activation of NF-κB signal pathway related protein was detected by Western blot. RESULTS After the HL-60 cells were cultured with PDTC of 25, 50, 100 μmol/L for 24, 48, 72 h, the inhibition rate of cell proliferation increased with the enhancement of PDTC concentration at the same time point (r=0.924, P<0.01). At the same PDTC concentration, the inhibition rate of cell proliferation increased with prolonging of time (r=0.952, P<0.01). After HL-60 cell was cultured with PDTC of 25, 50, 100 μmol/L for 48 h, compared with control group, PDTC of 25, 50, 100 μmol/L increased the cell apoptotic rate, arrested cell cycle at G1 phase (P<0.01), the expression of BCL-2, cyclinD1 and p-NF-κB p65 was down-regulated(P<0.05), the expression of BAX, cleaved caspase 3, cleaved caspase 8 was up-regulated(P<0.01). PDTC of 50, 100 μmol/L down-regulated the expression of p-inhibitor of NF-κB (p-IκBα)(P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS PDTC can inhibit acute leukemia HL-60 cell proliferation and induce cell apoptosis.