PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF ONCOPROTEINS FOR THE SURVIVAL OF PATIENTS WITH NONSMALL CELL LUNG CARCINOMAS

Patients with non-small cell lung carcinomas whose tumors showed an ov erexpression of the oncogenes c-fos and c-N-ras at the protein level h ad significantly shorter survival times than those without overexpress ion of these oncogene products. (c-fos: p=0.0002, c-N-ras: p=0.002). M ultivariate analysis showed that expression of proteins coded by c-fos and c-N-ras is a significant prognostic factor in addition to tumor s taging and DNA ploidy. The prognostic value is improved by combining t he expression of c-fos and c-N-ras products. A significant correlation between the expression of c-fos and c-N-ras products and the tumor ta ke rate in nude mice was found.