The potential use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is broadly divided into 5 categories: management of solitary pulmonary nodule, mediastinal lymph node evaluation, detection of metastases, evaluation of response to chemoradiation and detection of recurrence. The purpose of this review is to discuss the current clinical applications of F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET in patients with NSCLC and to discuss future applications and developments of this technology.