After immunohistochemical staining of clinical non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) specimens to determine the expression levels of the components of this network, a three-step approach was used to integrate the prognostic values of uPA, uPAR, PAI-1, PAI-2, MMP-2, and MMP-9. The gene discussed is MMP9; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.