Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects more than 90 % of the world's population and has a potential oncogenic nature. A histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), has shown potential ability in cancer chemoprevention and treatment, but its effect on EBV-infected Akata cells has not been examined. This study investigated the effect of TSA on the proliferation and apoptosis of the cells. TSA inhibited cell growth and induced cytotoxicity in the EBV-infected Akata cells. TSA treatment sensitively induced apoptosis in the cell, which was demonstrated by the increased number of positively stained cells in the TUNEL assay, the migration of many cells to the sub-G0/G1 phase in flow cytometric analysis, and the ladder formation of genomic DNA. Western blot analysis showed that caspase-dependent pathways are involved in the TSA-induced apoptosis of EBV-infected Akata cells. Overall, this study shows that EBV-infected B lymphomas are quite sensitive to TSA-provoked apoptosis.