Water-soluble CdS quantum dots (CdS-QDs) capped with thioglycolic acid were easily prepared, and a detection method of adriamycin was presented based on the fluorescence quenching of CdS-QDs. It was found that a complex could be formed between cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide(CTAB) and CdS-QDs by using electrostatic interaction in Britton-Robinson(BR) buffer at pH = 7. 00, and the strong fluorescence emission of the complex was observed at 500nm when the complex was excited at 378 nm. The presence of adriamycin, however, could strongly quench the fluorescence through hydrophobic interaction. The overall quenching percentage as a function of adriamycin concentration matches the Stern-Volmer equation very well. These properties make CdS-QDs a potential fluorescence probe for the detection of adriamycin. The detection limit(3σ) of adriamycin is approximately 10-9 mol/L.