Previous studies have confirmed that increased MAPK1 expression could function as tumour promoter in HCC.35, 36 Tang et al demonstrated that MAPK1 was capable to regulate cell propagation and metastasis in ovarian cancer.37 Li et al reported the effect of MAPK1 gene on metastasis and EMT progression in cervical cancer.19 Consistently, our results showed that MAPK1 down‐regulated by miR‐217 facilitated metastasis and EMT process of HCC cells, indicating that miR‐217 suppressed HCC via negatively modulating MAPK1 expression. This evidence concerns the gene MAPK1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.