Thus, in order to provide evidence for new therapeutic targets of breast cancer, the present study aims to clarify the roles of miR‐128‐3p and NEK2 in breast cancer, which reveals that miR‐128‐3 can inhibit the stem‐like cell characteristics including proliferation, migration, invasion and self‐renewal of BCSCs by down‐regulating NEK2. Here, NEK2 is linked to breast cancer.