Based on the observation that allelic polymorphism of individual genes is generally only weakly associated with disease predisposition in multi-genic disorders like cancer, a multi-factorial contribution by distinct genes affecting a specific function (i.e. T cell function) could be hypothesized; thus, polymorphisms of CTLA4, FOXP3 and HLA genes in melanoma patients may contribute to variability in patient survival and prognosis and their combination may have stronger predictive power than that of each genes assessed as a single entity. This evidence concerns the gene FOXP3 and melanoma.