Objective To investigate the expression of metastasis-associated proteins (MTAs) in glioma patients and its influence on survival time.Methods Tumor tissues from 67 glioma patients and normal brain tissues from 18 patients with brain injury were collected. The expression of MTA-1, MTA-2, and MTA-3 in all the tissue samples was measured by immunohistochemistry and compared between glioma tissues and normal brain tissues; the clinicopathological features of MTA expression were analyzed with reference to related clinical data. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was applied for univariate analysis of MTA and related parameters, and the Cox proportional hazards model was applied for multivariate regression analysis of the parameters with P<0.05 determined by the univariate analysis.Results Compared with the normal brain tissues, the glioma tissues had significantly higher positive rates of MTA-1 and MTA-2 and a significantly lower positive rate of MTA-3 (P=0.012, 0.001, and 0.001, respectively). Compared with the corresponding negative groups, the MTA-1 positive group and the MTA-2 positive group had significantly higher numbers of the patients with high-grade tumors according to the WHO classification, as well as significantly lower Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) scores, while the MTA-3 group had a lower number of the patients with high-grade tumors and a higher KPS score. The results of univariate analysis showed that MTA-1, MTA-2, MTA-3, WHO classification, KPS score, and age of onset were the influencing factors for survival time in glioma patients, and the results of Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that WHO classification and MTA-3 expression were the independent influencing factors for survival time.Objective All three MTAs greatly influence the survival time in glioma patients, but with different mechanisms of action. Expressions of MTA-1 and MTA-2 may be negatively related with the survival time of patients, whereas MTA-1 may be positively related.