Background and objective: It has been showed that VEGF-C can induce the proliferation of lymphocytes. The aim of this study is to explore the expression of VEGF-C in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its relationship with lymph node metastasis. Methods: The expression of VEGF-C was examined in 60 human NSCLC tissues by immunohistochemical technique. Results: The positive rate of VEGF-C expression was 65.00% (39/60) in NSCLC tissues. The expression of VEGF-C was significantly higher in cases with lymph node metastasis (83.33%, 20/24) than in those without lymph node metastasis (52.78%, 19/36) (P<0.05). Conclusion: There is an overexpression of VEGF-C protein in human NSCLC tissues, which may correlate with lymph node metastasis. The expression of VEGF-C protein might be used as a useful marker of lymph node metastasis in NSCLC.