Objective To explore the role of chemokine receptor CXCR4 in lymphatic metastasis induced by VEGF-C in gastric carcinoma.   Methods The mRNA expressions of CXCR4 and VEGF-C were determined by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) in 86 cases of primary breast carcinoma

and the migration and inhibition response of CXCR4 to chemokine stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1 or CXCL12) were detected by Boyden chemotaxis assay.   Results Out of 86 cases

53 cases presented high expression levels of CXCR4 (61.63%

53/86)

49 cases showed high expression levels of VEGF-C mRNA (56.98％

49/86). The cases with higher expression of VEGF-C mRNA presented higher expression of CXCR4 mRNA. The expression of CXCR4 mRNA was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis in primary gastric carcinoma (P0.05). The average chemotaxis activity of CXCR4 to SDF-1  was evaluated as 81% in gastric cancer cells

but dropped to 30% after using anti-CXCR4 monoclonal antibody

with significant difference (P0.05).   Conclusion There is a positive correlation between lymphatic metastasis and the expression of CXCR4 and VEGF-C mRNA in primary gastric carcinoma. The functional status of CXCR4 affects the chemotaxis of gastric cancer cells.