When the 57 EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients of the training cohort were grouped as erlotinib responders and non-responders according to BIM mRNA expression, a clear trend emerged: 88.9% of patients with high BIM mRNA expression responded to erlotinib vs 22.2% of patients with low/intermediate BIM levels (P = 0.0027). This evidence concerns the gene BCL2L11 and non-small cell lung carcinoma.