Recent studies have shown that insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling components have been involved in the pathogenesis and progression of different types of sarcomas. There has been some evidence to indicate the differential expression of IGF2 and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) in human sarcomas. The present study utilized immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH) to determine the expression of IGF2 and IGF1R in eighty-two cases of human sarcoma specimens and eight cases of non-tumor tissue (NTT). IGF2/IGF1R signaling was blocked by recombinant adenovirus-mediated IGF1R small hairpin RNA (shIGF1R), which was used to transfect into human osteosarcoma (OS) MG-63 cells. The expression of IGF2, IGF1R, matrix metallopeptidase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 was detected by Real-time PCR. Cell migration was evaluated by wound healing assay. As a consequence, the expression of IGF1R and IGF2 was found in human OS with higher strong reactivity rate compared with the NTT (85.0 percent vs 50.0 percent, P=0.022; 95.0 percent vs 100.0 percent, P=0.042), elevating with the ascending order of tumor malignancy. Also, IGF1R had differential expression in different types of sarcomas (P=0.002), while IGF2 had no significant difference (P=0.105). Targeted blockade of IGF2/IGF1R signaling decreased the expression of IGF2, IGF1R, and MMP-2/-9, and diminished the migration capabilities of MG-63 cells. In conclusion, IGF1R is differentially-expressed in different types of human sarcomas, and targeted blockade of IGF1R pathway may inhibit human OS migration through down-regulation of MMP-2/-9 expression. IGF1R pathway may represent a significant therapeutic modality for the treatment of sarcomas.