The VEGFR-3 mRNA expression levels in the lung tumor tissue of the NSCLC patients exhibited no statistically significant difference between the lymph node metastasis and lymph node non-metastasis groups (0.139±0.137 vs. 0.142±0.123; t=0.08; P>0.05). The gene discussed is FLT4; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.