Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. In Taiwan, lung cancer is also the type of malignancy that is the major cause of cancer-mortality. Investigating the mechanism of apoptosis of lung cancer cells is important in the treatment of lung cancer. In the present study, isolinderalactone was demonstrated to exhibit anticancer effects in A549 human non-small cell lung cancer cells. The effect of isolinderalactone on apoptosis, cell cycle distribution p21 levels and the Fas receptor and soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) were assayed in order to determine the mechanism underlying the anticancer effect of isolinderalactone. It was demonstrated that isolinderalactone may induce p21 expression and then cause the cell cycle arrest of A549 cells. The data of the present study also revealed that the Fas/sFasL apoptotic system is significant in the mechanism of isolinderalactone‑induced apoptosis of A549 cells. These novel findings demonstrated that isolinderalactone may cause the cell cycle arrest of A549 cells by induction of p21, and induce apoptosis of A549 human non-small-cell lung carcinoma cells through the Fas/sFasL apoptotic system.