AbstractIncreasing experimental evidence demonstrates that malignant transformation is associated with changes in the repertoire of expression of the integrin family of molecules, which mediate cell‐matrix and cell‐cell interactions. We have analyzed immuno‐histochemically and immunochemically the expression of VLA‐3 integrin and its known ligands, namely, laminin (LM), fibronectin (FN), collagen type IV (Coll IV), nicein (NIC), and entactin/nidogen (ENT), in lung tumors of various histological types. α3β1 was detectable in normal bronchial epithelium and along basement membranes of alveolar walls. In non‐small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) the integrin was expressed in 82% of the cases, independently of histological type and degree of differentiation of the tumors. On the other hand, only 13% of the small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) displayed a weak and heterogeneous distribution of the α3β1 complex. Our findings were confirmed immunochemically using long‐term tumor cell lines. While the expression of both α3β1 and ligands LM, FN, Coll IV, and Ent correlated in NSCLC with the presence of basement membranes, FN was the only ligand detectable in the stroma of SCLCs. A selective loss of nicein in basement membranes was demonstrated in NSCLC indicating an impairment of expression of this glycoprotein following malignant transformation. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.