BACKGROUND:Lung adenocarcinoma stem cels are a very important marker for diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the relationship between human lung adenocarcinoma stem cel phenotypes and patient’s prognosis. METHODS:From February 2010 to January 2013, 48 patients with lung adenocarcinoma admitted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University were enroled. Lung adenocarcinoma cancer stem cel phenotypes were detected with immunofluorescence method, and the relationship of different phenotypes and clinical characteristics with patient’s prognosis was compared. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: SP-C and CCSP expression was observed in the lung adenocarcinoma tissues of 48 cases, possessing the phenotypic characteristics of bronchioloalveolar stem cels. Of the 48 patients, OCT4 was positive in 34 cases (OCT4+ group) and negative in 14 cases (OCT4- group). There was no difference between the two groups in terms of patient’s age, gender, smoking history and tumor stage (P > 0.05). There were 23 cases (68%) in the OCT4+ group with cancer cel metastasis, which was significantly higher than that in OCT4- group (21%;P > 0.05). In the aspects of patient’s age, gender, smoking history, staging and cancer metastasis and other clinical pathological stratification, the 2-year survival rate in the OCT4- group were generaly higher than that in the OCT4+ group, and there was a significant difference in the survival curves of two groups (P < 0.05). Human lung adenocarcinoma stem cels have the phenotypic characteristics of bronchioloalveolar stem cels, and meanwhile, if the cels are positive for OCT4, patient’s prognosis is poor and associated with lung adenocarcinoma metastasis.