Non-coding RNAs, particularly long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), play important roles in tumorigenesis. The
miR-155
host gene (
MIR155HG
) lncRNA has been found to play a crucial role in tumor progression. However, the role of
MIR155HG
in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remains unclear. Thus, the aim of the present study was to explore the roles and underlying molecular mechanisms of action of
MIR155HG
and
miR-155-5p
in LSCC, in an effort to provide novel approaches for the antitumor therapy for LSCC. In the present study, the expression levels of
miR-155-5p
and
MIR155HG
were detected by reverse tran scription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In addition, the biological functions of
MIR155HG
and
miR-155-5p
on LSCC were evaluated
in vitro
by MTS assay, colony formation assay and Transwell assays, and
in vivo
by tumorigenesis assays. It was revealed that
MIR155HG
and
miR-155-5p
were significantly upregulated in LSCC tissues, and were associated with the TNM stage, pathological differentiation and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, the knockdown of
MIR155HG
and
miR-155-5p
inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of LSCC cells, whereas their overexpression exerted the opposite effects
in vitro
and
MIR155HG
overexpression promoted tumorigenesis
in vivo
. Furthermore,
MIR155HG
downregulation reduced the expression level of
miR-155-5p
. The inhibitory effect of
MIR155HG
knockdown on malignant behavior was abrogated by
miR-155-5p
overexpression. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay confirmed that
miR-155-5p
contributed to the progression of LSCC by directly binding to the 3′ untranslated region of SRY-related-HMG-box 10 (
SOX10
). In addition,
MIR155HG
and
miR-155-5p
were upregulated by the induction of transforming growth factor-β (
TGF-β
) and promoted the expression of mesenchymal markers synergistically. On the whole, the findings of the present study indicate a novel role of
MIR155HG
in the
TGF-β
-induced EMT of LSCC cells by regulating EMT markers through the
miR-155
/
SOX10
axis. The
MIR155HG
/
miR-155-5p
/
SOX10
axis plays an important role in promoting the progression of LSCC and may thus serve as a potential therapeutic target for LSCC treatment.