Serum miR-223 was validated as an effective biomarker of stage I-II NSCLC, confirming the miR-223 diagnostic performance reported by others in Chinese cohorts.MiR-223 may induce the apoptosis of NSCLC through the PI3K/AKT pathway by EGFR. The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.