The metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is a bona fide long noncoding RNA (lncRNA). LncRNA MALAT1 was discovered as a prognostic factor for lung cancer metastasis but also has been linked to several other human tumor entities. However, little is known about the role of lncRNA MALAT1 in glioma patients. The aim of this study was to identify the role of lncRNA MALAT1 in the pathogenesis of glioma; we analyzed the relationship of lncRNA MALAT1 expression with clinicopathological characteristics in glioma patients. In our results, lncRNA MALAT1 expression was increased in glioma tissues compared with paired adjacent brain normal tissues (P < 0.001). Furthermore, lncRNA MALAT1 was associated significantly with WHO grade (I-II vs. III-IV; P = 0.007) and tumor size (< 3 cm vs. T ≥ 3 cm; P = 0.008). However, lncRNA MALAT1 expression was not associated significantly with age (<45 vs. ≥ 45, P = 0.343), gender (female vs. male, P = 0.196), family history of cancer (yes vs. no, P = 0.665), and tumor location (supratentorial vs. infratentorial, P = 0.170). Moreover, the level of lncRNA MALAT1 expression was markedly correlated with the glioma patients' overall survival (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis suggested that increased lncRNA MALAT1 expression was a poor independent prognostic predictor for glioma patients (P = 0.002). In conclusion, lncRNA MALAT1 plays an important role on glioma progression and prognosis and may serve as a convictive prognostic biomarker for glioma patients.