Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a common cause of cancer-associated mortality. The dysregulation of microRNA (miR) expression has been reported to induce lung carcinogenesis. In the present study, miR1973p upregulation was detected within LUAD tissues compared with in adjacent noncancerous tissues. The suppression of miR1973p expression was confirmed to inhibit proliferative ability and induce apoptosis of LUAD cell lines; miR1973p overexpression within the HBE cell line exhibited opposing effects. Via in silico modeling, western blot analyses and dualluciferase assays, it was confirmed that miR1973p directly targets the lysine 63 deubiquitinase (CYLD) gene. In the present study, the expression of miR1973p was negatively associated with CYLD mRNA expression within LUAD cell lines. In conclusion, the findings of the present study have provided novel insight into the association of miR1973p with LUAD proliferation and apoptotic regulation; the miR1973p/CYLD axis may serve as a novel potential therapeutic target for the treatment of LUAD.