The aberrant expression of long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been confirmed to play a pivotal role in tumor initiation and development. LncRNAs can interact with microRNAs (miRNAs) as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to regulate the expression of target genes in various cancers. In the present study, the authors investigated the functions of lncRNAs as ceRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) and their implications for the prognosis. The RNA sequencing profiles of 372tumor samples and 32adjacent non‑tumor gastric samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The differential expression of RNAs was identified using the 'edgeR' package in Rlanguage software. Survival analysis was estimated based on Kaplan‑Meier curves. The Gene Ontology biological processes and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were analyzed for differentially expressed mRNAs. Finally, a total of 999lncRNAs, 137miRNAs and 1629mRNAs were identified as differentially expressed (DE) in GC with log fold change (FC) thresholds>2 and adjusted P‑values<0.01. A ceRNA network was constructed with 65DElncRNAs, nine DEmiRNAs and 24DEmRNAs. Of the 65DElncRNAs in the ceRNA network, nine were identified to be significantly associated with overall survival (P<0.05). A total of four DElncRNAs from the ceRNA network were validated by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and revealed to be associated with tumorigenesis and/or progression. In conclusion, the results of the present study provide information on the role of the ceRNA network in GC. These identified novel lncRNAs are potential candidate biomarkers and require further studies.