Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer‑related mortality worldwide. Previously, the upregulation of microRNA (miR)‑10a has been identified in human cervical cancer. The present study firstly demonstrated that miR‑10a was markedly upregulated in primary tumor tissues in patients with positive lymph node metastasis (LN+) compared with negative (LN‑) by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. miR‑10a mimics markedly enhanced cervical cancer cell migration and invasion abilities, and accordingly the miR‑10a inhibitor suppressed those functions. Furthermore, these data suggested that the phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) was inhibited by miR‑10a through an miR‑10a binding site within the 3'‑untranslated region of PTEN at the posttranscriptional level, and that miR‑10a mimics promoted nuclear translocation of β‑catenin. Therefore, it was concluded that the overexpression of miR‑10a contributes to metastasis in cervical cancer by targeting PTEN. miR‑10a may therefore be used clinically as a molecular marker for patients with cervical cancer lymph node metastasis.