Objective:To observe the effects of inhibiting invasion and inducing apoptosis of tanshinone ⅡA(TanⅡA) in human cervical squamous carcinoma SiHa cells,and discuss its possible mechanism. MethodsThe human cervical squamous carcinoma SiHa cell lines were routinely cultured in vitro and treated with TanⅡA at concentration of 0.5,1.0,2.0 and 5.0 mg/L respectively. Then the cells were cultured for 24 hours. The morphological changes of the cells were observed by inverted microscope. The cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay,the effect of TanⅡA on cell migration was detected by cell scratch test,the inhibitory effect of TanⅡA on SiHa cell invasion was detected by Transwell test,and the change of SiHa cell apoptosis was observed by laser scanning confocal microscope. The protein expressions of MMP-2 and NF-κB p65 were detected by Western blotting.  Results:The morphological observation showed that tanshinone ⅡA with different concentrations could all lead to the changes of cell morphology. MTT assay indicated that tanshinone ⅡA showed the obviously inhibitory effect on SiHa cells growth,and the inhibitory effect was increased with the increasing drug concentration(P<0.05,P<0.01). The result of scratch test showed that the SiHa cell migration was decreased with the increasing TanⅡA concentration(P<0.01). The Transwell test suggested that TanⅡA showed strong inhibitory effect on SiHa cell invasion in vitro. The results of Western blotting showed that TanⅡA could inhibit the protein expression of MMP-2 and activation of NF-κB p65 in SiHa cells(P<0.01).  Conclusion:TanⅡA can inhibit the invasion and induce the apoptosis in human cervical squamous carcinoma SiHa cells,and its possible mechanism may be associated with inhibiting NF-κB activation and down-regulating MMP-2 expression.