OBJECTIVE: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common head and neck tumors with high incidence and mortality. Long noncoding RNA bladder cancer-associated transcript 1 (IncRNA BLACAT1) was involved in several cancers development. However. the roles of BLACAT1 in OSCC have not been investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expressions of BLACAT1 and miR-142-5p in OSCC cells were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. Cell migration and invasion were evaluated by transwell migration assay and transwell invasion assay. respectively. The protein levels of CyclinD1, p21, p27, MMP-2, MMP-9 and MMP-14 were detected by Western blot analysis. The interaction of BLACAT1 and miR-142-5p was verified by luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: The expression of BLACAT1 was increased and the expression of miR-142-5p was decreased in OSCC cells. The knockdown of BLACAT1 suppressed the viability, migration and invasion of OSCC cells. miR-142-5p was identified as a target of BLACAT1 and BLACAT1 overexpression suppressed miR-142-5p expression. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-142-5p showed similar effects on OSCC cells viability. migration and invasion with BLACAT1 knockdown, and inhibition of miR-142-5p restored the effects of BLACAT1 knockdown OSCC cells viability, migration and invasion. CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA BLACAT1 knockdown suppressed the viability, migration and invasion of OSCC cells by sponging miR-142-5p, indicating that BLACAT1 might be a novel target for the treatment of OSCC.