Furthermore, decreased expression of PHF5A reduced the expression levels of PI3K, phosphorylation of AKT, c-Myc (P<0.05) and elevated the expression of p21 (P<0.05).<h4>Conclusions</h4>These results demonstrated that PHF5A may play an important role in progression of NSCLC by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Here, PHF5A is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.