OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of etomidate and propofol on immune function in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS Sixty patients who were scheduled for lung cancer surgery under general anesthesia were studied. The patients were randomly divided into an etomidate total intravenous anesthesia group (group E) and a propofol total intravenous anesthesia group (group P), with 30 cases in each group. RESULTS Within group comparison: The percentage of CD4+ in the two groups was significantly reduced at 24 hours post-operation (T2) compared with the percentage before surgery, whereas the percentage of CD8+ was higher at T2. Between group comparison: The CD4+ percentage of group E was higher than that of group P (P < 0.05) at T2, whereas the CD8+ percentage was lower than that of group P (P < 0.05) at T1. CONCLUSIONS Using etomidate for anesthesia has less of an effect on immune function in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.