Dual-luciferase reporter assays, Transwell assays and western blot assays with GC cell lines supported that the SNHG12/miR-218-5p/YWHAZ axis forms a competing endogenous (ceRNA) network and positively regulates GC metastasis and EMT; this is the first time these relationships among the three molecules have been revealed. This evidence concerns the gene YWHAZ and gastric cancer.