$re = '/(?:^.*\r?\n){4}.*\K(,)$/m';
$str = '(\'1234\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 12, \'hello\'),
(\'stuff\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 12, \'hello\'),
(\'stuff\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 12, \'hello\'),
(\'stuff\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 12, \'hello\'),
(\'stuff\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 12, \'hello\'),
(\'stuff\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),
(\'1234\', \'1234\', 12, \'hello\'),
(\'stuff\', \'1234\', 1234, \'1234\'),';
$subst = "";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php