Although Zscan4 protein level in both tumour and stroma of patients without a pre-surgery chemotherapy history was largely negligible, we found striking Zscan4 expression in tumour foci of NSCLC patients who underwent chemotherapeutic regimens that mainly involved genotoxic agents, with the protein substantially localized in the stroma, in sharp contrast to the surrounding epithelium (Fig. 2a). The gene discussed is ZSCAN4; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.