Patients with non-small cell lung cancer with tumour protein p53 (<i>TP53</i>) gene mutations or Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue (<i>KRAS</i>) gene mutations tend to be more sensitive to anlotinib or programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) drugs. Here, PDCD1 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.