Unlike the dominant effect of germline p53 mutation on cancer risk, germline p53 polymorphisms exert more subtle effects on tumor onset or risk of cancer by modifying the function of p53. In particular, the codon 72 R/P polymorphism affects binding of p53 to p73 and has been associated with altered risk for many different cancers [7]–[9]. The gene discussed is TP53; the disease is cancer.