Synovial sarcoma, one of the more common soft tissue tumors in young patients, is characterized by the in-frame fusion of the mammalian switch/sucrose nonfermentable (mSWI/SNF or BAF) chromatin remodeling complex subunit SS18 to an SSX family member, whereby the last eight amino acids of SS18 are replaced by the C-terminal 78 amino acids of SSX1, SSX2 or, rarely, SSX4 (refs. 2,3). This evidence concerns the gene SSX1 and synovial sarcoma.