Objective To evaluate whether ' F-fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG) can be used to monitor early response to irradiation in colorectal cancer. Methods The uptake rate of FDG was measured at different cell numbers (l.0 ×l05 ~ 1.5 ×l06) and cultured times (36 h, 60 h, 84 h) to select the best experimental conditions. Cells were irradiated with OGy, 2Gy, 4Gy and 6Gy. Then MTT and y counter were used to to evaluate the proliferation inhibition rate and FDG uptake inhibition rate (AFDG) respectively at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h later. Results FDG uptake rate of HCT116 cells was as high as 79.6%. The cells proliferation was significantly delayed after irradiation in MTT assay. As cell proliferation, the FDG uptake rate was also affected to varying degrees. The FDG uptake inhibition rate at 24 h after irradiation was (10. 11 ± 1. 76)% , ( 14. 84 ± 2. 25)% , ( 13. 17 ± 3. 70)% , and 48 h was (4. 94 ± 1.19)%, (11.15±1.43)%, (13. 94 ±1.22)%, 72 h was (2.01 ±1.43)%, (5. 66 ±0. 88)% , (8.76 ±0.91)% , respectively. The AFDG of 48 h and 72 h positively correlated with the proliferation inhibition rate (P <0.01). Conclusion The FDG uptake inhibition rate can reflect the response to irradiation in HCT116 cells at early time, especially for 48 h later.