The expression of the oncogenes c-fos, c-jun, c-myc, c-erbB-1 and c-erbB-2 at the protein level was analyzed in squamous cell lung carcinomas of 121 patients by means of immunohistochemistry. Patients with overexpression of proteins encoded by the oncogenes c-fos, c-jun and c-erbB-1 had significantly shorter survival times than these without overexpression of these oncogene products (c-fos: p = 0.009; c-jun: p = 0.029; c-erbB-1: p = 0.018). No significant correlations were found between the expression of c-myc and c-erbB-2 products and the survival of the patients. In addition to the univariate analyses (Kaplan-Meier-estimates) multivariate analyses (Cox-regression-model) revealed that protein expression of the oncogenes c-fos, c-jun and c-erbB-1 are significant prognostic factors in addition to staging.