The present study aimed to investigate the potential role of the long non‑coding RNA (lncRNA) Pvt1 oncogene (non‑protein coding) (PVT1) in the progression and metastasis of malignant melanoma, and to reveal its possible molecular mechanisms. The expression of lncRNA PVT1 in melanoma tissues and adjacent normal skin from patients with melanoma, and in the melanoma A‑375 and sk‑mel‑5 cell lines, was analyzed using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses. The effects of PVT1 expression on cell proliferation, the cell cycle, cell migration and cell invasion were analyzed using MTT assay, flow cytometry, Transwell and scratch assays, respectively. The interaction between PVT1 and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) in melanoma cells was analyzed using RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. The effect of PVT1 on microRNA‑200c (miR‑200c) expression was analyzed by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. PVT1 was highly expressed in the melanoma tissues and cells. Silencing of PVT1 significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 stage. Additionally, PVT1 silencing significantly decreased the cyclin D1 expression in the melanoma cells. The expression of E‑cadherin was significantly increased and the expression of N‑cadherin and vimentin was significantly decreased in the PVT1‑silenced group. The RIP assay found that endogenous PVT1 was highly enriched by EZH2 RIP compared with that of the negative control. The ChIP assay revealed that the expression of miR‑200c was decreased significantly in the PVT1‑silenced group compared with the controls. Overall, the present study demonstrated that the lncRNA PVT1 may contribute to the tumorigenesis and metastasis of melanoma through binding to EZH2 and regulating the expression of miR‑200c. lncRNA PVT1 may serve as a potential target for the therapy of melanoma.