Circular RNA Pvt1 oncogene (CircPVT1) promotes the progression of papillary thyroid carcinoma by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and modulating the ratio of microRNA-195 (miR-195) to vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) expression.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported to be involved in the progression of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, the role of circular RNA Pvt1 oncogene ( in PTC has rarely been reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of in PTC. The expression level of and were determined by reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR (RT‑qPCR). Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the correlation between expression and PTC clinical features. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) staining assay and transwell assay were conducted to evaluate the cell proliferation, migration and invasion ability. Dual-luciferase reporter and Western blot assay were conducted for evaluating the correlation between and or . The results of RT-PCR showed that the expression level of was significantly upregulated in PTC tissues and cell lines. After downregulating expression in PTC cells, the abilities of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were obviously suppressed, and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was also repressed. Besides, could both bind to and , while could promote the expression of by binding to . Downregulation of expression in PTC cells revealed weakened cell proliferation, migration, and invasion capacities, and restrained Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Therefore, we demonstrated that could promote expression by sponging could serve as a molecule sponge for and mediate the ceRNA network to promote the expression of , thus contributed to the malignant progression of PTC.