Consistent with our previous observations in NSCLC tissue samples, analysis of a panel of NSCLC cell lines with varying histologies and mutation status (Additional file 3: Table S1) further revealed that, except for the association between pIGF-1R and IGF1 in HCC827 cells, pIGF-1R levels were poorly correlated with ligand levels but were generally well correlated with pSrc expression in NSCLC cells (Fig. 1c; Additional file 4: Figure S3). The gene discussed is IGF1; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.