The product of a tree (Tabebuia avellanedae) from South America, beta-lapachone, is known to exhibit various pharmacological properties, the mechanisms of which are poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to further elucidate the possible mechanisms by which beta-lapachone exerts its anti-proliferative action in cultured human prostate cancer cells. We observed that the proliferation-inhibitory effect of beta-lapachone was due to the induction of apoptosis, which was confirmed by observing the morphological changes and cleavage of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase protein. A DNA flow cytometric analysis also revealed that beta-lapachone arrested the cell cycle progression at the G1 phase. The effects were associated with the down-regulation of the phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) as well as the enhanced binding of pRB and the transcription factor E2F-1. Also, beta-lapachone suppressed the cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) and cyclin E-associated kinase activity without changing their expressions. Furthermore, this compound induced the levels of the Cdk inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression in a p53-independent manner, and the p21 proteins that were induced by beta-lapachone were associated with Cdk2. beta-lapachone also activated the reporter construct of a p21 promoter. Overall, our results demonstrate a combined mechanism that involves the inhibition of pRB phosphorylation and induction of p21 as targets for beta-lapachone. This may explain some of its anticancer effects.