Human esophageal cancer‑related gene 4 (ECRG4) is a potential tumor suppressor gene isolated from human esophageal epithelial cells. Studies have shown that ECRG4 effectively inhibits the proliferation of tumor cells and induces apoptosis. However, the role of ECRG4 in laryngeal cancer has not yet been clearly defined. In this study, a human laryngeal cancer cell line stably overexpressing ECRG4 was established. The effect of ECRG4 on the proliferation and apoptosis of laryngeal cancer cells and the associated mechanisms were investigated. The Hep‑2 human laryngeal carcinoma cell line exhibited a low basal level of ECRG4 expression and was selected for the present study. The eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3.1‑ECRG4 was constructed and introduced into Hep‑2 cells by transfection reagents. Western blot analysis, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence staining confirmed high‑level expression of ECRG4. The 3‑(4, 5‑dimethylthiazol‑2‑yl)‑2,5‑diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and colony formation assay showed that ECRG4 overexpression suppressed the proliferative capacity of laryngeal cancer cells in vitro. Cell cycle analysis showed that ECRG4 induced cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Flow cytometric analysis and Hoechst staining demonstrated that overexpression of ECRG4 significantly induced apoptosis. Western blot analysis confirmed that Bcl‑2‑associated X protein, cleaved‑caspase‑3 and cleaved‑poly (ADP‑ribose) polymerase were upregulated in the apoptotic process, whereas B‑cell lymphoma 2 was downregulated. In conclusion, overexpression of ECRG4 inhibited laryngeal cancer cell proliferation and induced cancer cell apoptosis. Therefore, ECRG4 exhibits potential as an effective target in gene therapy for laryngeal cancer.