Abstract: Objective To explore the role of pre-operation serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels on the prognosis evaluation in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods The preoperative CRP serum levels in 120 patients with NSCLC were measured. The patients were divided into two groups based on the CRP levels: normal CRP group (CRP<5mg/L, n=76) and raised CRP group (CRP≥5mg/L, n=44). The differences of clinical pathological status and long-term prognosis between two groups were analyzed. Results The pre-operation serum CRP levels were significantly associated with advanced tumor TNM stage and lymph node involvement (P<0.05), but not with patients’ age, sex and histological type (P>0.05). In an unvaried and multivariate analysis, tumor TNM stage, lymph node involvement and serum CRP levels were associated with survival rate. The 5-year survival rate of patients with CRP<5mg/L and ≥5mg/L were 56.6% and 31.8% respectively (P<0.001). The patients with CRP≥5mg/L had a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.892 (95%CI: 1.984-5.096, P<0.001). Conclusion Pre-operation serum CRP levels might be used as an additional prognostic evaluation parameter in patients with NSCLC.