AIM: To investigate the therapeutic effect of somatostatin receptor type 2 (SSTR2) gene transfection on pancreatic carcinoma xenograftsin vivo in experimental cancers.METHODS: Human pancreatic cancer cell line Panc-1 was inoculated subcutaneously into the back of nude mice. When tumor nodules were grown as large as about 5 mm×5 mm days after inoculation, the mice were randomly divided into 3 groups (6 mice in each group). Group Ⅰ served as untreated control group. Group Ⅱ received an intratumoral injection of a combination of human cytomegalovirus promoter-6C (pCMV-6C) and lipofectamine 2000. Group Ⅲ received an intratumoral injection of a combination of pCMV-6C-SSTR2 and lipofectamine 2000. The rate of tumor growth was compared among these three groups. The expression of SSTR2 in these tumors was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western-blot. Apoptosis index (AI) in these tumors was examined by using TUNEL in situ.RESULTS: Intratumoral injection of a combination of pCMV-6C-SSTR2 and lipofectamine 2000 resulted in the expression of SSTR2 protein. The tumor size and weight in group Ⅲ (0.318±0.098 cm3, and 0.523±0.090 g,respectively) were significantly lower than those in group Ⅰ (2.058±0.176 cm3, and 1.412±0.146 g, respectively) and group Ⅱ (2.025±0.163 cm3, and 1.365±0.116 g, respectively)(P＜0.05) The AI in group Ⅲ (1.47±0.13%) was significantly higher than that in group Ⅰ (0.56±0.09%) and group Ⅱ (0.57±0.11%) (P＜0.05). But there were no significant differences between groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ.CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that re-expression of SSTR2 gene has antitumor effects on experimental pancreatic cancer. Restoration of SSTR2 gene expression through gene transfer in vivo might be a potential gene therapy strategy for human pancreatic cancer.