Abstract: Objective To explore the influence of folic acid receptor （FR）-targeted liposomal formulation of paclitaxel on human ovarian cancer xenografts in nude mice models. Methods Human ovarian cancer xenografts in nude mice models were established by using of human ovary cancer cell line SKOV3,and randomly divided into 2 groups (n=8):the FR-targeted liposomal formulation of paclitaxel (the experiment group) group and the paclitaxel (the control group) group.The volumes and weight of tumor mass were detected,and the tumor inhibitory rates were calculated.The growth curves of xenograft tumors were draw up.Morphological changes and ultramicrostructure of cells were observed with inverted phase contrast microscope and transmission electron microscope,respectively.Meanwhile,cell apoptosis was investigated with TUNEL staining. Results The tumor inhibitory rate of the experiment group was 38.1%,which was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05).The apoptosis index(AI) of the experiment group was(53.45±6.82)%,significant difference was found between the two groups(P<0.01). Conclusion s FR-targeted liposomal formulation of paclitaxel may actively targeting the folic acid receptor,enable to deliver the nanoscale drugs directively into cancer cells,which could increase therapeutic effect of drug largely.Compared to traditional preparations,the novel FR-targeted nanoscale drug may offer a more promising approach for tumor-targeting therapy.