Herein, we clarified that lncRNA NEAT1 directly interacted with miR-338-3p to enhance CREBRF expression, exerting the repression on cell growth, migration and invasion as well as the promotion of cell apoptosis in AML, indicating that NEAT1/miR-338-3p axis retarded the development of AML via up-regulating CREBRF. Here, NEAT1 is linked to acute myeloid leukemia.