TGF-α levels did not change significantly in NSCLC and HNC but showed a trend to higher levels, consequent with reports confirming increased serum TGF-α in ovarian (Chien et al, 1997), hepatocellular (Tomiya and Fujiwara, 1996; Harada et al, 1999), colorectal (Shim et al, 1998), gastric (Moskal et al, 1995; Choi et al, 1999) and breast cancer (Chakrabarty et al, 1994) as measured by RIA. The gene discussed is TGFA; the disease is breast cancer.