A small number of common susceptibility loci have been identified for pancreatic cancer, one of which is marked by rs401681 in the TERT-CLPTM1L gene region on chromosome 5p15.33.
This meta-analysis suggests that T allele of CLPTM1L-telomerase reverse transcriptase rs401681 polymorphism is associated with an increased PC risk, especially among Chinese.
Our data suggests that the T allele of rs401681 in CLPTM1L-TERT locus predisposes its carriers to pancreatic cancer, and further research into the function of CLPTM1L-TERT locus and its potential biological mechanism association may be warranted.
These findings suggested that rs401681 C allele was a low-penetrance risk allele for the development of cancers of lung, bladder, prostate and basal cell carcinoma, but a potential protective allele for melanoma and pancreatic cancer.