[en] Objective: To investigate whether ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake within the primary tumor correlates with cell proliferation in non-small cell lung cancer. Methods: Thirty patients with non-small cell lung cancer were examined with FDG PET within 20 d prior to surgery. For semiquantitative analysis, standardized uptake value (SUV) was calculated. The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was immunohistochemically assessed and the normal lung tissue around the tumor was regarded as the control. We also followed-up the outcome of every patient of the study group. Results: PCNA expression (PCNA labeling index) of alveolus cell in normal lung tissue was lower than 5%, and was (49.49 ± 21.24)% in the lung cancer lesion. FDG SUV correlated significantly with PCNA labeling index (r = 0.826, P < 0.01). The SUV and PCNA labeling index were significantly different between the patients with and without recurrence and (or) metastasis (P < 0.01). Conclusions: FDG uptake relates to cell proliferation in non-small cell lung cancer. As a non-invasive imaging technique, the SUV of FDG in ¹⁸F-FDG PET imaging may be valuable in prognostic prediction