A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with the aggressiveness and high recurrence rate of non-small cell lung cancers is needed to identify new biomarkers and therapeutic targets to improve patient management. In this context, this review provides a non-exhaustive update on the emerging family of long non-coding RNAs, important regulators of gene expression, frequently deregulated in cancers and in response to hypoxia - an environmental factor that plays an important role in the development, aggressiveness and treatment resistance of these tumors.