Although a link was found between CXCR4 and STAT3 in different cells, such as haematopoietic progenitor cells (Zhang et al, 2001) or a fibrosarcoma cell line (Soriano et al, 2002), there are no reports on STAT3 signalling in SCLC so far. The gene discussed is CXCR4; the disease is small cell lung carcinoma.