MicroRNA‑874 is downregulated in cervical cancer and inhibits cancer progression by directly targeting ETS1.

An increasing number of studies have reported that microRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in cervical cancer and serve critical roles in cervical oncogenesis and progression. Therefore, identifying the aberrantly expressed miRNAs implicated in the formation and progression of cervical cancer may provide key clues for the development of effective therapeutic targets in treating patients with this type of malignancy. In the present study, miRNA‑874 (miR‑874) was downregulated in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines, and this downregulation was associated with International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics stage and lymph node metastasis. The restored expression of miR‑874 prohibited the proliferation, migration and invasion, but promoted the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells. In addition, E26 transformation specific‑1 (ETS1) was identified as the direct target of miR‑874 in cervical cancer. Inhibition of ETS1 served tumour‑suppressive roles similar to miR‑874 overexpression in cervical cancer cells. A series of rescue experiments revealed that restoring ETS1 expression abolished the tumour‑suppressing effects of miR‑874 in cervical cancer cells. Taken together, the results of the present study indicated that miR‑874 may serve as a tumour suppressor in cervical cancer by directly targeting ETS1. This function suggested that miR‑874 holds potential therapeutic applications in treating patients with this type of malignancy.