OBJECTIVE: To detect the relative expression of long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 460 (linc00460) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues and cells, to investigate the effects of linc00460 on proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC and to preliminarily explore its potential molecular action mechanisms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The relative expression of cancer tissues from 52 patients with NSCLC compared with that of para-carcinoma normal tissues was detected through Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). qRT-PCR was also used to test the relative expressions of linc00460 in 4 strains of NSCLC cells. Effects of knockdown of linc00460 expression on the cell proliferation ability were detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay through transfection of small interfering linc00460 (silinc00460) interference sequence in A549 cells and PC-9 cells. Transwell assay was used to detect the effects of lic00460 on the migration and invasion abilities of NSCLC cells. Western blot was applied to observe the changes of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins. The expression changes of EMT-related proteins were detected by immunofluorescence assay. RESULTS: qRT-PCR results showed that there were 40 cases (76.9%) with up-regulated linc00460 expressions in tissues from 52 patients with NSCLC. The linc00460 expressions in 5 strains of NSCLC cells were higher than those of human bronchial epithelial (16HBE) cells. Interference in linc00460 expression could inhibit the proliferation, invasion and migration of NSCLC cells. Results of Western blot and immunofluorescence found that interfering with the linc00460 expression could affect the expression changes of EMT-related proteins. CONCLUSIONS: The relative expression of linc00460 is upregulated in NSCLC tissues. Cells and linc00460 can promote the tumor invasion and migration through affecting EMT.