全球范围内，口腔癌是一种常见的肿瘤。多年来，它的死亡率和发病率都在增长。口腔癌的转移是一个复杂的过程，涉及细胞侵袭、迁移、增殖，并通过淋巴管或血管从癌组织中脱落。微小RNA（miRNA）是重要的短非编码RNA，可以作为肿瘤抑制因子或癌基因，控制癌症发展。癌细胞转移是一个多步骤的过程，miRNA可以通过靶向这些途径中的关键基因，抑制或刺激转移的各个阶段，包括上皮间质转化、迁移、侵袭和殖民地化。另一方面，长非编码RNA（lncRNA）和环状RNA（circRNA）是两种不同类型的非编码RNA，可以通过与miRNA的相互作用影响基因表达来调节癌症的转移。我们在2000年至2023年期间对科学文献（Google学术、Scopus和PubMed）进行了回顾，以找到涉及miRNA和lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA网络的报告，这些报告通过影响侵袭、迁移和转移来控制口腔癌细胞的扩散。根据这些报告，miRNA参与调控转移途径，直接或间接靶向与转移有关的基因。此外，circRNA和lncRNA能够作为竞争性内源性RNA，通过抑制miRNA对特定mRNA的作用，诱导或抑制口腔癌的转移。总体而言，非编码RNA（尤其是miRNA）可以帮助创建创新的治疗方法来控制口腔癌的转移。© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.

Across the world, oral cancer is a prevalent tumor. Over the years, both its mortality and incidence have grown. Oral cancer metastasis is a complex process involving cell invasion, migration, proliferation, and egress from cancer tissue either by lymphatic vessels or blood vessels. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are essential short non-coding RNAs, which can act either as tumor suppressors or as oncogenes to control cancer development. Cancer metastasis is a multi-step process, in which miRNAs can inhibit or stimulate metastasis at all stages, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition, migration, invasion, and colonization, by targeting critical genes in these pathways. On the other hand, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), two different types of non-coding RNAs, can regulate cancer metastasis by affecting gene expression through cross-talk with miRNAs. We reviewed the scientific literature (Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed) for the period 2000-2023 to find reports concerning miRNAs and lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks, which control the spread of oral cancer cells by affecting invasion, migration, and metastasis. According to these reports, miRNAs are involved in the regulation of metastasis pathways either by directly or indirectly targeting genes associated with metastasis. Moreover, circRNAs and lncRNAs can induce or suppress oral cancer metastasis by acting as competing endogenous RNAs to inhibit the effect of miRNA suppression on specific mRNAs. Overall, non-coding RNAs (especially miRNAs) could help to create innovative therapeutic methods for the control of oral cancer metastases.© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.