To study the growth inhibition and cell cycle changes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (CNE1) cells after transfection with p53 gene. A mixture of nano-liposomes and plasmid containing p53 was used for transfecting CNE1 cells. Cellular apoptosis was examined after transfection using the CCK-8 reagent method with flow cytometry. The results showed that a ratio of nanoliposome/p-ORF-GFP of 3.5:1 showed the highest transfection efficiency in CNE1 cells. The cells transfected with a mixture of composites in this proportion showed significant apoptosis of up to 50-70%. In addition, we observed that cell cycle changes-measured using flow cytometry-as well as cellular apoptosis were accelerated after administration of composites. The CCK-8 kit was used to determine the viability of nano-liposome-encapsulated p53 transfected cells. In vitro experiments showed that the combination significantly inhibited the growth of CNE1 cells with an inhibition rate of approximately 63.8%. Therefore, the nanocomposites have a significant effect on inhibiting the growth of CNE1 cells. Through the investigation of apoptosis and cell cycle changes in CNE1 cells we found that the nanoliposome-encapsulated p53 gene can inhibit growth in these cells, and might therefore serve as a novel treatment strategy for adjuvant treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and ca also reduce incompatibility issues with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This method can also provide technical and theoretical support for the development of novel drugs.