This paper reviewed the research progress on single compounds of Chinese herbs,single Chinese medicinal herb and Chinese herbal compound prescription which affect the expression of apoptosis related genes caspase, Bcl-2 and survivin. Various single compounds of Chinese herbs,single Chinese medicinal herb or Chinese herbal compound prescription show good effect on inhibiting tumor proliferation and inducing tumor apoptosis through the influence on the gene expression of caspase, Bcl-2 and survivin. Screening drugs that with the effect on inducing tumor apoptosis from traditional Chinese medicine, would be one of the important directions for the future research and development of antitumor drugs.