Celecoxib is a selective inhibitor of COX-2, whose connection with the development and progression of human tumors has been extensively studied. So far, however, its anti-metastatic effect is poorly understood in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The current study aimed to observe the effect of celecoxib on invasion and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines and investigate the potential mechanism in vitro. Human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines HNE1, HONE1, SUNE1-5-8F were exposed to different concentrations of celecoxib. MTT assay was used to study its anti-proliferation effect, transwell assay wound healing repair assay were performed to investigate the invasiveness and migration capability after treatment with celecoxib. The activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was measured by gelatin zymography. MTT assay showed that celecoxib inhibited HNE1, HONE1, and SUNE1-5-8F cells growth. Wound healing repair assay and transwell assay showed that cell metastatic ability was suppressed after treatment with celecoxib. Celecoxib had a significant inhibitory effect on the activity of MMP-2/9 in a dose-dependent manner in HNE1, HONE1 and SUNE1-5-8F cell lines. These data demonstrated that celecoxib-induced suppression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity might be involved in the inhibition of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines invasion and migration.