BAF180 has been implicated as a tumor suppressor that is mutated in breast and renal cell carcinomas (Varela et al., 2011; Xia et al., 2008) The lack of coordination between BRG1 and BAF180 expression in a subset of melanoma cell lines may cause down-regulation of the tumor-suppressive function of BRG1 while retaining its function in promoting lineage-specific survival. Here, SMARCA4 is linked to hereditary clear cell renal cell carcinoma.