Recent studies have found alterations to clock genes in several forms of cancer. Period (Per) gene plays an important role in the circadian system, the cell cycle, the induction of apoptosis, and DNA damage. However, the functions of Per in pancreatic cancer have not yet been elucidated. Here, we show that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) suppressed the expression of both Per1 and Per3 in MIA-PaCa2 cells, a human pancreatic cancer cell line. The levels of these proteins were 10% lower in the cells treated with 10 ng/mL TNF-alpha. Cell proliferation showed a 15%, 14%, and 16% decrease at 0.4, 2.0, and 10 ng/mL of TNF-alpha, respectively. In MTS-assays, MIA-PaCa2 cells transfected with siRNA against Per1 showed a 19% reduction in proliferation. However, the knockdown of Per3 did not significantly inhibit cell proliferation. The results suggest Per1 to be involved in the inhibition of the proliferation of MIA-PaCa2 cells by TNF-alpha.