To gain a greater understanding of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) we investigated the actions of all
-trans
-retinoic acid (RA; a retinoid), bexarotene (a pan-RXR agonist), and forkhead box (FOX) transcription factors in human OSCC-derived cell lines. RA and bexarotene have been shown to limit several oncogenic pathways in many cell types. FOXO proteins typically are associated with tumor suppressive activities, whereas
FOXM1
acts as an oncogene when overexpressed in several cancers. RA and/or bexarotene increased the transcript levels of
FOXO1
,
FOXO3A
, and
TRAIL
receptors; reduced the transcript levels of
FOXM1
, Aurora kinase B (
AURKB
), and vascular endothelial growth factor A (
VEGFA
); and decreased the proliferation of OSCC-derived cell lines. Also, RA and/or bexarotene influenced the recruitment of FOXO3A and FOXM1 to target genes. Additionally,
FOXM1
depletion reduced cell proliferation, decreased transcript levels of downstream targets of
FOXM1
, and increased transcript levels of
TRAIL
receptors. Overexpression of
FOXO3A
decreased proliferation and increased binding of histone deacetylases (HDACs) 1 and 2 at the
FOXM1
,
AURKB
, and
VEGFA
promoters. This research suggests novel influences of the drugs RA and bexarotene on the expression of
FOXM1
and
FOXO3A
in transcriptional regulatory pathways of human OSCC.