Recently, a common polymorphism in the transmembrane domain of the FGFR4 gene, Gly388Arg, has been reported to correlate with tumour aggressiveness (lymph node metastasis, advanced stage at presentation and reduced survival in several cancer types, including breast, sarcoma, lung and prostate (Bange et al, 2002; Morimoto et al, 2003; Nakamura et al, 2004; Wang et al, 2004; Spinola et al, 2005a)). Here, FGFR4 is linked to neoplasm.