Objective To explore the correlation between CD4+CD29+T cells and the pathological typing and staging for patients with primary pulmonary carcinoma. Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect peripheral blood CD4+CD29+T cells, gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) of 60 patients with lung cancer. The relationships between them and the pathological typing and staging were studied. Results (1) The CD4+CD29+T cellsand TNF-α percentages in thecancer patients were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05), while IFN-γwas significantly reduced (P < 0.05); (2) Amongthe cancer patients, there were 23 cases of squamous carcinoma, 17 cases of adenocarcinoma, 11 cases of large cell carcinoma and 9 cases of small cell carcinoma. The numbers of the cases at the stage of 0 , Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ were 15, 15, 17 and 13, respectively. (3) The percentages of CD4+CD29+T cells and TNF-α had significantly positive correlation with the pathological classification and staging , but IFN-γ-was negatively correlated with pathological typing and staging (r > 0.65, P < 0.05). Conclusion Theincreased CD4+CD29+T cells and TNF-α, together with decreased IFN-γ arehighly indicative of immunological characteristics of lung cancer , and closely related to the pathological typing and staging.