Lung malignancy is a major cause of human mortality. As such, safe pharmacological agents that can detect lung cancer are urgently required. Magnolol has been reported to have anticancer property. However, it is still unclear whether magnolol induces apoptosis of lung carcinoma cells. In this study, magnolol inhibited cell growth, increased lactate dehydrogenase release, and modulated cell cycle in human lung carcinoma A549 cells. Magnolol induced the activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of Poly-(ADP)-ribose polymerase, and decreased the expression level of nuclear factor-${kappa}B$/Rel A in the nucleus. In addition, magnolol inhibited basic fibroblast growth factor-induced proliferation and capillary tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. These data indicate that magnolol is a potential candidate for treating of human lung carcinoma.