To date, a number of molecular epidemiological studies have been performed to evaluate the association between PAI-1 promoter 4G/5G polymorphism and risks for different types of tumor, including breast cancer (12–17), colorectal cancer (3,18–20), ovarian cancer (21,22), oral cancer (23,24), endometrial cancer (25,26) and other cancers (27,28), in diverse populations However, the observed associations of these studies were inconsistent and a single study may be insufficient to detect a possible small effect of the polymorphism on cancer, particularly when the sample size is relatively small. The gene discussed is SERPINE1; the disease is breast carcinoma.