In clinical practice, this could lead to an overly optimistic or pessimistic survival prediction in more aggressive carcinoma subtypes, such as epidermal growth factor receptor-positive lung cancer or hormone-resistant prostate cancer.38 New developments in genomics, molecular analysis and the use of validated prognostic tools39 may offer targeted therapeutic regimens and improve the estimation of prognosis to aid surgical decision making. This evidence concerns the gene EGFR and carcinoma.