Netrin‑1 (NTN1) has been demonstrated to promote tumorigenesis in multiple types of cancer; however, its role in the growth of gastric cancer (GC) cells has not been described in detail. In the present study, the data suggested that NTN1 knockdown significantly decreased the proliferation of GC cells, whereas NTN1 overexpression had an opposing effect. Furthermore, the use of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor decreased the proliferation of GC cells. It was also revealed that NTN1 markedly induced the phosphorylation of FAK, extracellular signal‑regulated kinase (ERK) and c‑Jun N‑terminal kinase (JNK), but did not induce the phosphorylation of P38. In addition, the expression of ERK and JNK was markedly inhibited by treatment with FAK inhibitor. Xenograft analysis using GC cells revealed that NTN1 overexpression promoted tumor growth. Furthermore, the expression of NTN1 in samples collected from nude mice was downregulated in the NTN1 knockdown group and upregulated in the NTN1 overexpression group compared with the control short hairpin RNA group. These results suggest that NTN1‑induced GC cell proliferation is mediated by activating ERK/MAPK signaling cascades via the distinct activation of FAK.