We evaluated the associations between 39 SNPs, including 38 tag-SNPs in telomere-related genes (TERT, TRF1, TRF2, TNKS2, and POT1) and one SNP (rs401681) in the TERT-CLPTM1L locus which has been identified as a susceptibility locus to skin cancer in the previous GWAS, and the risk of skin cancer in a case-control study of Caucasians nested within the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) among 218 melanoma cases, 285 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cases, 300 basal cell carcinoma (BCC) cases, and 870 controls.
Stratification analysis by histology type indicated that rs401681 T genotypes were associated with a significantly reduced risk of both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
In addition, we find both rs402710 and rs401681 conferred significantly greater risks for adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma when stratified by histological type of tumors.