A growing body of evidence suggests that MYC induced long noncoding RNA (MINCR) is involved in the initiation and progression of various tumors. However, little is known about the biological function and clinical value of MINCR in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the present study, results found that MINCR over expression in NSCLC tissue and cell lines was closely related to poor survival in NSCLC. Functional experiments found that decreased MINCR expression inhibits NSCLC cell proliferation and migration and promotes cells apoptosis. Tumor formation assay found that knockdown of MINCR significantly inhibited tumor growth. Results also found that MINCR functions as an oncogene in the metastasis of NSCLC, in part, by acting as a competing endogenous RNA to modulate the miR-126/SLC7A5 axis. Dysfunction of MINCR, miR-126 and SLC7A5 predicted poor prognosis of patients with NSCLC. In conclusion, results suggest that the MINCR-miR-126-SLC7A5 axis plays an important role in the progression of NSCLC and may serve as a potential target for lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.