To determine the presence and abundance of pro-survival proteins in developing lung neoplasia, we examined human bronchial biopsies of various grades (normal, hyperplasia, mild, moderate and severe dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and carcinoma) for the presence of phospho-Akt, p65/RELA and cIAP-2/BIRC3 and determined their localization within cells. Here, RELA is linked to carcinoma.