Apoptosis, a programmed cell death to eliminate damaged or abnormal cells, is a highly organized physiological process characterized by condensation of nuclear heterochromatin, cell shrinkage and loss of positional organization of organelles in the cytoplasm. Apoptosis inducers are a collection of compounds that are capable of inducing apoptosis in cells. Apoptosis has been extensively studied in numerous researches, where induction of apoptosis has been associated with a variety of events, including activation of p53 gene, transcription factor NF-κB or caspases. Apoptosis inducers have the potential to be incorporated into the management and therapy or prevention of cancer for their ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cells.