The present study aimed to investigate the role of long noncoding RNA MACC1-AS1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). In the present study MACC1-AS1 expression as analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The interactions between MACC1-AS1 and miR-34a was analyzed via overexpression experiments. Cell cycle and proliferation analyses were performed to analyze the roles of MACC1-AS1 in regulating cancer cell cycle progression and cell proliferation. It was observed that MACC1-AS1 was upregulated in CSCC, and its expression levels were elevated with the increase in clinical stage. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that MACC1-AS1 may be a sponge of miR-34a, which can target cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6). In CSCC cells, MACC1-AS1 overexpression led to upregulation of CDK6, while miR-34a overexpression had the opposite effect and reduced the effects of MACC1-AS1 overexpression in co-transfected cells. Cell cycle and proliferation analyses demonstrated that MACC1-AS1 and CDK6 promoted cell cycle progression and cell proliferation. By contrast, miR-34a had the opposite effect on cell cycle proliferation and cell proliferation, reducing the effects induced by MACC1-AS1 overexpression. Therefore, the lncRNA MACC1-AS1 may serve as a sponge of miR-34a to upregulate CDK6, thereby promoting cell cycle progression and cell proliferation.