In lung cancer, although there is some indication of the possible contribution of some of the nuclear substrates of ERK1/2 to the biology and prognosis of NSCLC patients (Levin et al, 1995; Volm et al, 2002), very little is known about the possible role of cytoplasmic substrates of ERK1/2 in NSCLC. The gene discussed is MAPK3; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.