The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an essential component in tumor metastasis. However, the molecular mechanism of EMT in renal cancer is unclear. IL-8 is an important chemokine in tumor microenvironment. Studies have shown that renal cancer cells can secrete IL-8，whether it could induce EMT in renal cancer cells is unknown. Here we found that IL-8 could induce EMT in renal cancer cells. Upon the stimulation of IL-8，the expression of E-cadherin was up-regulated，while the expression of N-cadherin was down-regulated; IL-8 promoted the invasion of renal cancer cells, but there was no obvious impact on cell proliferation. In addition, IL-8 could activate ERK through PKC. Therefore, we believe that IL-8 may promote renal cancer EMT through PKC / ERK signaling pathway, which may be one of the important mechanisms of renal cancer metastasis.