Here, we have demonstrated that variations in IκBα levels are associated with metabolic reprogramming in lung cancer cells: high IκBα expression identifies a group of cancers with low levels of ROS and low mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, while low IκBα expression drives metabolic switch characterized by increased fatty acid oxidation, OXPHOS, mitochondrial respiration and expression of ETC components and higher levels of ROS. Here, NFKBIA is linked to lung carcinoma.