Figure 2 shows that no linkage disequilibrium was observed between the index SNP rs4449583 (located at intron 2 of TERT) and other surrounding loci, which indicated this locus to be an independent risk locus for thyroid cancer. We further performed a gene-based analysis using 49 TERT SNPs and found that TERT was significantly related to thyroid cancer (Z = 2.76, p = 0.003). Here, TERT is linked to thyroid cancer.