Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constitutes ~85% of lung cancers. However, the mechanisms underlying the progression of NSCLC remain unclear. In this study, we found the mRNA and protein expression levels of integrin αv are both increased in NSCLC tissues compared to healthy ones, which indicates that integrin αv may play an important role in NSCLC progression. To further investigate the roles of integrin αv in NSCLC, we overexpressed the integrin αv gene in the NSCLC cell line A549, and found that the cell proliferative ability increased. The apoptosis of A549 cells was inhibited with overexpression of integrin αv. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the role of integrin αv in promoting NSCLC progression, we studied the expression of proteins from a number of important pathways associated with tumorigenesis, and found that the extracellular signal regulated protein kinase (ERK)1/2 signaling pathway may be involved in the mediation of the observed integrin αv effects. component of an important pathway for tumorigenesis, the ERK 1/2. Following inhibition of ERK 1/2 signaling, the proliferation of A549 cells induced by integrin αv was reduced, while the inhibition of apoptosis was attenuated. Our findings demonstrate that integrin αv promotes the proliferation of the human lung cancer cell line A549 by activating the ERK 1/2 signaling pathway, which suggests that this pathway may be a promising target for the treatment of human lung cancer.