The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the cancer microenvironment on the anoikis resistance and pulmonary metastasis of osteosarcoma (OS) cells, and to evaluate the critical role of the interleukin (IL)-8/C-X-C chemokine receptor (CXCR) 1/Akt-signaling pathway in these processes. Here, CXCL8 is linked to cancer.