Aim of the study: To explore the correlation of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with maximum standardised uptake value (SUV_max) of ¹⁸FDG-PET-CT in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Material and methods: Thirty patients received PET-CT imaging protocol first, and then all the patients underwent needle biopsy though CT guidance. The tumour tissue of each patient was taken from two biopsy areas: one area was SUV_max = 2.5–5, and the other was SUV_max > 5. Expression of VEGF and EGFR were detected and analysed by immunohistochemical staining.

Results: The expressions of both VEGF and EGFR had no statistically significant correlation with SUV_max in age, gender, pathology, or differentiation (p > 0.05). The expressions of both VEGF and EGFR had statistically significant correllation with SUV_max in tumour size and clinical stage (p < 0.05). SUV_max correlated positively with VEGF and EGFR expressions (r = 0.879, p < 0.05).

Conclusions: SUV_max correlated positively with expressions of VEGF and EGFR (r = 0.879, p = 0.000; r = 0.839, and p = 0.000, respectively). This study may provide guidance for radiotherapy of NSCLC.