Melanoma is a malignant skin cancer type associated with a high mortality rate, but its treatment is currently not ideal. Both microrna (mir)-214 and cell adhesion molecule 1 (cadM1) are differentially expressed in melanoma, but their role in this cancer type remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the role of cadM1 and mir-214 in melanoma to identify novel targets for its treatment. The expression levels of cadM1 and mir-214 in cells were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative Pcr (rT-qPcr). Moreover, cell viability, migration and invasion were measured by MTT, wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. in addition, the relative expression levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (eMT)-related proteins in cells were detected by rT-qPcr and western blotting. it was found that the expression of cadM1 was inhibited in melanoma cells, while mir-214 expression was increased during melanoma tumorigenesis. Furthermore, mir-214 mimics promoted the viability, migration and invasion of melanoma cells. it was also demonstrated that the downregulation of cadM1 reversed the inhibitory effect of the mir-214 inhibitor in melanoma. Moreover, overexpression of cadM1 inhibited the eMT process in melanoma, while the mir-214 inhibitor suppressed the eMT process. The results also indicated that mir-214 promoted the eMT process by downregulating cadM1, which may represent a novel mechanism for the progression of melanoma.