Abstract: Objective: To investigate the nuclear factor- kappaB (NF-κB) DNA binding activity in lung cancer tissue and its significance in development of lung cancer. Methods: The NF-κB DNA binding activity of 87 cases with lung cancer tissue was detected using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Results: The NF-κB DNA binding activity was higher in small cell lung cancer tissue,compared to cancer with other pathological types; the binding activity was higher in the tissue of poorly- differentiated cancer, and was higher in the lung cancer tissues with lymph node metastasis than with non lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Conclusions: The NF-κB DNA binding activity is correlated with factors, such as histological types, degree of differentiation and lymph node metastasis.