Objective Autophagy is a protective reaction when cells are under stress, but the effect of autophagy in cisplatin induced apoptosis is unclear. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of autophagy on cisplatin induced apoptosis of HeLa cells using autophagy specific inhibitor 3-methyladenine. BR> Methods MTT assay was employed to examine the growth suppression of the cells. Inverted phase contrast microscope was used to detect the morphological changes of the cells. Indirect immunofluorescence was used to dectect the expression and location of the LC3 and p62 proteins. Hoechst staining was used to observe the apoptosis. Results MTT assay showed that 3-Methyladenine combined with DDP enhanced the growth inhibition effect of cisplatin on HeLa cell line. Under the inverted phase contrast microscope, the cells became more round and fragile with the usage of 3-methyladenine and cisplatin. Indirect immunofluorescence staining showed that 3-methyladenine combined with DDP inhibited the expression and colocalization of LC3 and p62 Hoechst staining showed that 3methyladenine combined with DDP enhanced the apoptosis of HeLa cells induced by cisplatin. Conclusion Inhibition of the autophagy by 3-methyladenine enhances the apoptosis induced by cisplatin in