Abstract： Objective To analyze the modes and rules of subcarinal lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer patients， and explore appropriate surgical dissection strategy of subcarinal lymph nodes for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Methods The clinical data of 608 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent lung resection and systematic lymph node dissection in Henan Cancer Hospital from September 2002 to October 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 388 males and 220 females with an average age of 62.3 （45-78） years. There were 122 patients with left upper lobe tumor， 119 patients with left lower lobe tumor， 158 patients with right upper lobe tumor， 40 patients with right middle lobe tumor and 169 patients with right lower lobe tumor. Subcarinal lymph node metastasis was observed in 118 patients （19.4%）. There were 244 patients with squamous carcinoma， 285 patients with adenocarcinoma and 79 patients with other types of carcinoma. The relationship of subcarinal lymph node metastasis with tumor location， pathological types and clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. Results There was statistical difference in subcarinal lymph node metastasis rate among different tumor locations （P=0.000）. Subcarinal lymph node metastasis rate was the highest ［45.8% （54/118）］ in patients with right lower lobe tumor. For patients with different pathological types， subcarinal lymph node metastasis rate was the highest ［55.9% （66/118）］ in patients with adenocarcinoma， and then squamous carcinoma （P=0.034）. Subcarinal lymph node metastasis rate increased with the increase in T staging， and patients with tumors located in the middle or lower lobe of the left or right lung had a significantly higher subcarinal lymph node metastasis rate than patients with upper lobe tumor. Conclusion Subcarinal lymph node metastasis rate are lower in patients with left or right upper lobe tumor， patients with squamous carcinoma whose clinical T staging is within cT 1 .