The gene expression RT–PCR analysis of the baseline FNA samples showed that HIF-1α mRNA expression was nonsignificantly lower in HEP2 than in Detroit 562 tumours (7.9 vs 15.1 (arbitrary units), P=0.064), whereas there was no difference in c-fos (432 vs 708, P=0.39) or EGFR mRNA (6.4 vs 8.5, P=0.41). This evidence concerns the gene EGFR and neoplasm.