Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been proved to serve as a critical role in cancer development and progression. However, little is known about the pathological role of lncRNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) in pancreatic cancer patients. The aims of this study are to measure the expression of lncRNA MALAT1 in pancreatic cancer patients and to explore the clinical significance of the lncRNA MALAT1. Using qRT-PCR, the expression of lncRNA MALAT1 was measured in 126 pancreatic cancer tissues and 15 adjacent non-cancerous tissues. In the present study, our results indicated that lncRNA MALAT1 was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues (P < 0.001), and positively correlated with clinical stage (early stages vs. advanced stages, P < 0.001), tumor size (<2 vs. ≥2 cm, P = 0.004), lymph node metastasis (negative vs. positive, P < 0.001), and distant metastasis (absent vs. present, P = 0.001) in pancreatic cancer patients. Furthermore, we also found that lncRNA MALAT1 overexpression was an unfavorable prognostic factor in pancreatic cancer patients (P < 0.001), regardless of clinical stage, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. Finally, increased lncRNA MALAT1 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor for pancreatic patients through multivariate analysis (P = 0.018). In conclusion, overexpression of lncRNA MALAT1 serves as an unfavorable prognostic biomarker in pancreatic cancer patients.