In conclusion, our study showed co‐expression of p65 and p‐p105 but not p65 or p‐p105 alone was a poor prognostic indicator of survival outcome in early‐stage NSCLC, which indicated pathologic studies of NF‐κB expression in NSCLC may need to include multiple pathway components. The gene discussed is RELA; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.