Our study demonstrates that elevated NEDD9 expression in late-stage tumors is not preceded by a gradual increase in expression from earlier stages of disease progression but rather by a drop in expression prior to the invasion and metastasis stage, which can be explained by progressive changes in the oncogenic signaling networks before NSCLC cells tolerate NEDD9 upregulation. The gene discussed is NEDD9; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.