AIM: To investigate the effects of baicalein(BAI)on the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells and the mechanisms.METHODS:After MGC-803 cells were treated with BAI at different concen-trations,the viability of the MGC-803 cells was tested by MTT assay.The cell colony formation ability were detected by plate colony formation assay.Wound-healing and Transwell cell migration assays were used to test the migration ability of the MGC-803 cells.The concentration of 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid(12-HETE)was measured by ELISA.The pro-tein levels of platelet type 12-lipoxygenase(p12-LOX),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),p-ezrin and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)markers in MGC-803 cells were determined by Western blot.RESULTS:BAI significantly inhibited the proliferation,plate colony formation and migration abilities of the MGC-803 cells(P<0.05 or P<0.01), down-regulated the concentration of p12-LOX metabolite 12-HETE significantly(P<0.05 or P<0.01), decreased the protein levels of p12-LOX,VEGF,p-ezrin,vimentin and Snail(P<0.05 or P<0.01),and increased the protein expres-sion of E-cadherin(P<0.01).CONCLUSION:BAI suppresses the proliferation and migration abilities of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells effectively.These effects of BAI may be related to regulating the protein levels of p12-LOX,VEGF,p-ezrin and EMT-related proteins.