Abstract: Objective: To analyze the characteristics of regional lymph node metastasis in patients with resectable non- small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and assess its clinical significance in surgical mediastinal lymph dissection and the target volume definition of postoperative radiotherapy. Methods:We retrospectively reviewed810 patients with NSCLC, and analyzed the metastatic frequency of each regional lymph node station as well as the correlation between tumor location and regional lymph node metastases. Results: Re-gional lymph node metastases were significantly associated with the age of patients, histology, tumor size, and tumor location ( P=0.013, 0.000, 0.009 and 0.000, respectively). Conclusion:The younger patients with left lung adenocarcinomas and large tumor size tended to regional lymph node metastases. The trend of regional lymphatic drainage in the lobes of lung occurred differently. The prior location of involved regional lymph nodes in different lobes of the NSCLC patients was as follows: The station 2- 4 for right upper lobe tumors, the station 2- 4 and 7 for right middle lobe tumors and right lower lobe tumors, the station 5- 6 for left upper lobe tumors, and the station 5- 6 and 7 for left lower lobe tumors. We should pay more attention to the regions regarding the higher frequencies of lymph node metastases, when determining the extent of lymph node dissection or delineating the target volume of postoperative radiotherapy for NSCLC patients.