['miR-1290 is a newly discovered microRNA (miRNA), and its role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the expression levels of miR-1290 in NSCLC tissues and serum, and explore its associations with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of NSCLC patients.', 'A total of 33 pairs of tissues and 73 serum samples were obtained from NSCLC patients and expression levels of miR-1290 were detected by specific TaqMan qRT-PCR. The relationship between miR-1290 expression levels in NSCLC tissues and serum and clinicopathological characteristics was estimated respectively. The correlation between serum miR-1290 expression levels and overall survival of NSCLC patients was performed by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards model.', 'We determined that miR-1290 expression levels were increased significantly in NSCLC tissues compared with non-tumor adjacent normal tissues, and higher miR-1290 expression levels were positively correlated with high tumor stage (P=0.004) and positive lymph node metastasis (P=0.013). Compared with benign lung disease and healthy controls, serum levels of NSCLC patients exhibited higher expression of miR-1290. Furthermore, the up-regulation of serum miR-1290 more frequently occurred in NSCLC patients with high TNM stage, positive lymph node metastasis (P=0.022 and P=0.024, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that high serum miR-1290 expression levels predicted poor survival (P=0.022). Cox proportional hazards risk analysis indicated that miR-1290 was an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC.'] Is miR-1290 a potential prognostic biomarker in non-small cell lung cancer?