The majority of tumors possess the features of hypoxia. It is generally accepted that hypoxia is a negative prognostic factor for cancer. Low levels of oxygen are able to modify basic cell metabolism status. Elucidating the basic response, including cell proliferation and migration, to hypoxia by cancer cells is important for understanding the role of hypoxia in the development of cancer. In the present study, CoCl2 stimulation was used to simulate hypoxia. A microRNA (miRNA/miR) array was used to systematically detect the changes in miRNA expression profiles. Following treatment with CoCl2 for 12 h, 15 miRNAs were markedly upregulated and 10 miRNAs were markedly decreased compared with the control. After 24 h CoCl2 incubation, 15 miRNAs were increased and 3 miRNAs were decreased compared with the control. Among them, 7 miRNAs were upregulated and 2 miRNAs were downregulated at 12 and 24 h following CoCl2 stimulation. The potential roles of these miRNA were reviewed and it was identified that the majority of them are associated with cell proliferation and migration. Additional experiments demonstrated that CoCl2 incubation inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells but promoted cell migration. miR-491 may be a key miRNA for hypoxia-inhibited cell proliferation, as it was identified that hypoxia induced the downregulation of B-cell lymphoma-extra large in a miR-491-dependent manner. As the target of miR-302a, CXCR4 may be a key protein for hypoxia-promoted cell migration. In the present study, it was identified that in the early stage of hypoxia, cell proliferation was inhibited but cell migration was promoted. These results support the hypothesis that hypoxia may be a driving force for tumor cell escape from the primary tumor site to other organs, or other sites of the same organ.