Objective To explore the value of preoperative detection of soluble fragments of cytokeratin-19 (CYFRA21-1), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and postoperative detection of nuclear proliferation associated antigen Ki67 in prognostic evaluation of non-small cell lung cancer patients. Methods The clinicopathological data and follow-up results of patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University in 2017 were collected. CYFRA21-1>3.39 ng/mL was defined as positive, and CEA>5 ng/mL was defined as positive. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) of Ki67 expression level was drawn. The maximum area under the curve (AUC) was the cutoff value of Ki67 expression level, and the Ki67 expression level greater than its cutoff value was defined as positive. Cox regression analysis was used to determine the independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Results Finally 248 patients were collected, including 125 males and 123 females, with a median age of 61 years (ranging from 30 to 81 years) at the time of surgery. Univariate analysis showed that positive CYFRA21-1, high expression of Ki67, positive CEA, age≥60 years at operation, distant metastasis, lymph node metastasis, maximum tumor diameter>3 cm, and TNM stage Ⅲ were associated with poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. When combined detection of preoperative tumor markers and postoperative Ki67, the prognosis of all negative patients was the best, and that of all positive patients was the worst. Cox regression analysis showed that positive CEA+positive CYFRA21-1+high expression of Ki67 was an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (P<0.05). Conclusion The combined detection of preoperative serum CYFRA21-1, CEA, and postoperative Ki67 has important value in evaluating the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer patients.