Additionally, evidence suggests that germinative and somatic inactivating MAX abnormalities lead to tumour risk, namely renal oncocytoma (18, 19), pituitary adenomas (30–32), pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (33), small cell lung cancers (34) and Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GIST) (35). Here, MAX is linked to small cell lung carcinoma.