Objective To explore the effects of symptom experience on life quality of patients with lung cancer. Methods The functional assessment of cancer therapy-lung cancer (FACT-L) scale was adopted to analyze the correlation of symptom experience and life quality for 178 inpatients with lung cancer. Results The effects of different scores of breath shortness, weight loss, unclear thinking, appetite loss, cough, chest tightness, and breathing difficulty on physiological status were statistically significant (P<0.01). The effects of different scores of unclear thinking on family/social status were statistically significant (P<0.01). The effects of different scores of breath shortness, unclear thinking, appetite loss, and chest tightness on emotional status were statistically significant (P<0.01). The effects of different scores of breath shortness, weight loss, unclear thinking, appetite loss, hair loss, and chest tightness on functional status were statistically significant (P<0.01). The effects of different scores of breath shortness, weight loss, unclear thinking, appetite loss, chest tightness, and breathing difficulty on the overall score of FACT-L scale were statistically significant (P<0.01). Conclusion The symptom experience is the main basis for self-evaluating the life quality of patients. Subjective feelings of patients should be taken into consideration in selecting treatment plans.