Objective To evaluate the prediction value on distant metastases of fib bone marrow micrometastases (BMM) of patients with non-small lung cancer ( NSCLC ). Methods From January 2003 to March 2006, 168 patients undergoing surgical treatment for NSCLC were prospectively investigated for the presence of BMM by using immnnohistochemistry. The sensitivity and specificity of the rib bone marrow micrometastases technique were also calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve)was drawn according to data. Results Occult BMM were detected in 29.76 %(50/168) of patients with NSCLC. 15(29.76 %) patients developed metastases in the 50 patients with BMM and 15 (12.71%) patients developed metastases in the 118 patients without BMM. The sensitivity and the specificity of the technique was 61.54 % and 79.84 %. The false negative rate was 38.46 % and the false positive rate was 20.16 %. The positive predictive value, negative predictive value and Youden' s index were 87.5 %, 93.33 %, 74.33 % respectively. Conclusion The detection of BMM could predict the distant metastases of non-small lung cancer patients through receiver operating characteristic curve evaluation, however, the detecting sensitivity should be improved.