Cutaneous melanoma is a life-threatening skin cancer. Its incidence is rapidly 
increasing, and early diagnosis is the main factor able to improve its poor 
prognosis. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are transmembrane glycoproteins that 
recognize pathogen- and damage-associated molecular patterns, against which TLRs 
activate the innate immune response and initiate the adaptive immune response. 
Genetic variations of these receptors may alter the immune system, and are 
involved in evolution and susceptibility to various diseases, including cancer. 
The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the presence of TLR7 
glutamine (Gln) 11 leucine (Leu) polymorphism confers an increased 
susceptibility to cutaneous melanoma. For that purpose, a case-control study was 
performed with 182 melanoma cases and 89 controls. To highlight the possible 
association between the aforementioned polymorphism and the susceptibility to 
melanoma, 93 cases of single melanoma and 89 cases of multiple primary melanoma 
(MPM) were compared in the present study. Since the TLR7 gene is localized on 
the chromosome X, the allelic frequency of the Gln11Leu polymorphism was 
analyzed separately in males and females. The distribution of allele frequencies 
between melanoma cases and controls (P=0.245) and between single melanoma and 
MPM cases (P=0.482) was not significant. Therefore, the present results do not 
suggest an association between TLR7 Gln11Leu polymorphism and susceptibility to 
cutaneous melanoma. Further studies are required to analyze the influence of 
other TLR polymorphisms on the susceptibility to malignant melanoma and the 
involvement of innate immunity in this malignancy.