Abstract: OBJECTIVE：To investigate correlations of serum miR-146a with tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and T-regulatory cells (Treg) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and prognostic valuesa in the patients. METHODS：From June 2020 to November 2021，a total of 162 patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated in Cangzhou Central Hospital were selected for our study. Levels of miR-146a in patients were detected using fluorescence quantitative PCR ELISA，serum levels of miR-146a and TNF-α were detected using enzyme-linked immunoassay，and Treg levels were detected using flow cytometry. Pearson correlation was used to analyze correlations among miR-146a expressions， TNF-α concentrations and Treg proportion. Multi-factor logistic regression was used to analyze whether the relative expression levels of miR-146a was a prognostic risk factor for the patients. ROC curve was used to compare the predictive efficacy of miR-146a on prognosis. RESULTS：The relative expression levels of miR-146a was positively correlated with the concentrations of TNF-α (r=0.651，P<0.01)，and negatively correlated with the proportions of Treg (r=-0.676，P<0.01). The relative expression levels of miR-146a and the concentrations of TNF-α were prognostic risk factors (OR=1.95 and 1.39，respectively；P<0.01). Treg was a prognostic protective factor for death in NSCLC patients (OR=0.53；P<0.01). The AUC of miR-146a was 0.959 and 95%CI (0.934，0.985)，P<0.01. CONCLUSION：Serum miR-146a in NSCLC patients was positively correlated with TNF-α and negatively correlated with Treg，which was shown to be a risk factor for death in NSCLC patients and to have high prognostic value for NSCLC.

Key words: miR-146a, TNF-α, Treg, NSCLC, prognostic judgment