Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) have been reported to modulate oncogenesis and be used to be target for tumor. The role of lncRNA NEAT1 (nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1, Gene ID: 283131) in colorectal cancer (CRC) keeps unknown. This work was to investigate the pattern of lncRNA NEAT1 (NEAT1) expression in CRC and its functional value and biological significance. NEAT1 expression was analyzed in 56 cancer tissues and cell lines in CRC cases. Results showed that NEAT1 was significantly overexpressed in CRC cells and tissues. Clinicpathologic detection verified that high NEAT1 expression associated with bulk in CRC. The serum contents of NEAT1 were observably elevated comparing with healthy cases (P < 0.05). The levels of NEAT1 were elevated in distinguishing CRC from normal (ROCAUC = 0.9471; P < 0.01). Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis found that NEAT1 elevation led to adverse survival (P < 0.05). Further experiments illustrated that of NEAT1 knockdown signally inhibited growth and facilitated apoptosis. Importantly, we confirmed that Akt signaling pathway was inactivated after loss of NEAT1 in CRC. Taken together, this work support the first evidence that NEAT1 can be used to be a promising biomarker and target for novel treatment for human CRC.