To investigate the effect and mechanism of the CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in the proliferation and migration of breast cancer, a short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) eukaryotic expression vector targeting CXCR4 was constructed, and the impact of such on the proliferation, adhesion and migration of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells was observed. The gene discussed is CXCR4; the disease is breast carcinoma.