The anticancer action of gallotannins is a well-developed topic. We have demonstrated the in vivo antitumour activity of corilagin on Hep3B hepatoma using the xenograft athymic nude mice model. Here, we further report the potential sensitization of Hep3B hepatoma cells to cisplatin and doxorubicin by corilagin. Our results showed that corilagin is able to enhance the cytotoxicity of both cisplatin and doxorubicin on the Hep3B hepatoma cells. We speculate the possible use of corilagin in combination with low dosages of the anticancer chemotherapeutic standard drugs like cisplatin and doxorubicin, with the aim of obtaining an increment in the anticancer effect. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.