Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer and its metastasis leads to a poor prognosis. The present study was designed to elucidate how microRNA (miR)‑665 regulates the proliferation and migration of ovarian tumor cells. Reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) demonstrated that miR‑665 expression was decreased in ovarian cancer tissues. Increased expression of miR‑665 suppressed the growth and migration of ovarian cancer cells, whereas the downregulated expression of miR‑665 led to the opposite results. Bioinformatics tools identified homeobox A10 (HOXA10) as a target of miR‑665. Following miR‑665 overexpression, HOXA10 protein expression was significantly reduced. A dual luciferase assay revealed that miR‑665 bound to the 3'‑untranslated region of HOXA10. Immunohistochemistry and RT‑PCR revealed that the expression of HOXA10 was negatively correlated with the expression of miR‑665. It was concluded that miR‑665 targets HOXA10 and may act as a tumor‑suppressing gene in ovarian cancer. This pathway may be involved in the development and metastasis of ovarian cancer.