Objective:To observe the inhibitory effect of 6-gingerol on the invasion and migration of human gastric cancer BGC-823 cells, and to explore its possible mechanism. MethodsHuman gastric cancer BGC-823 cells were cultured and cultured with 6-gingerol at different concentration of 10, 20, 50 μmol / L for 24 h. The cell proliferation was detected by MTS method. The effect of 6-gingerol on cell migration ability was detected by the cell scratch test. The effect of cell invasion ability was detected by Transwell chamber, and the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, E-cadherin and N-cadherin by Western blotting.  Results:MTS assay showed that 6-gingerol inhibited the growth of BGC-823 cells, and the inhibitory effect increased with the increase of drug concentration (P<0.05 or P<0.01).The results of scratch test showed that 6-gingerol was able to reduce the planar motor motility of BGC-823 cells. The results of Transwell invasion chamber showed that 6-gingerol had a strong inhibitory effect on the invasiveness of BGC-823 cells in vitro. Western blotting results showed that 6-gingerol administration inhibited the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and N-cadherin proteins in BGC-823 cells, while the expression of E-cadherin protein increased.  Conclusion:6-gingerol can inhibit the proliferation of BGC-823 cells and inhibit cell invasion, and its mechanism may be related to affecting the expression of EMT-related proteins.