BACKGROUND: Clinical studies have demonstrated that oxaliplatin, a novel platinum derivative, is a potent chemotherapeutic agent, especially when combined with other reagents. The aim of the present study was to explore the mechanism of such action. METHODS: Using colon cancer cell lines, we examined changes in cell cycle, apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe induced by oxaliplatin and/or paclitaxel. RESULTS: Oxaliplatin at its IC(50) induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G(2)-M phase. Western blot analyses indicated that oxaliplatin decreased mitosis-commencing protein cdc2 and anti-apoptotic proteins, phospho-Bcl(2) and Bcl-xl in the three colon cancer cells tested. Since cdc2 stabilizes survivin, a putative IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis) family member, through phosphorylation of Thr34, we examined the level of survivin and found a marked decrease due to oxaliplatin. This finding is of particular interest because survivin is a promising molecular target against various human cancers and a key molecule involved in both apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe. When used in combination with paclitaxel (taxol), a putative apoptosis-inducing reagent, the isobologram indicated that the taxol-oxaliplatin sequence or taxol plus oxaliplatin had synergic or additive effects, while the oxaliplatin-taxol sequence resulted in a prominent antagonism. The taxol-oxaliplatin sequence caused marked growth inhibition of DLD1 and SW480 cells, possibly due to upregulation of apoptotic and non-apoptotic pathways, respectively. Morphological surveys indicated that the non-apoptotic process could be mitotic catastrophe. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that oxaliplatin that potently inhibited survivin may exert outstanding cytotoxic effects when combined with certain chemoreagents through enhancement of apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe.