Aim of the study: To study high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) and nuclear transcription factor p65 (NF-κB p65) ex­­pression in non-small cell lung cancer and its significance.

Material and methods: 106 hospitalized patients with non-small cell lung cancer after thoracic surgery were enrolled; HMGB1 and p65 protein expression was detected by the immunohistochemical method. Semiquantitative expression of HMGB1 and NF-κB p65 was analyzed using Image Pro Plus (IPP) software and statistical analysis.

Results: The rate of HMGB1 positive expression in the non-small cell lung cancer protein B1 family was significantly higher than normal tissues (P < 0.05); p65 protein expression in the non-small cell lung carcinoma group was significantly higher than that of normal tissues (P < 0.05). HMGB1 and NF-κB p65 protein expression was significantly higher compared with the non-metastatic group (P < 0.01). HMGB1 and NF-κB p65 protein expression showed a positive correlation (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: HMGB1 and NF-κB p65 ex­pression may be related to non-small cell lung cancer metastasis.