Penney ME, et al. - Using a patient cohort that included 379 stage I-III Caucasian colorectal cancer patients with microsatellite stable or microsatellite instability (MSI)-low tumors, researchers investigated whether germline genetic variations could further differentiate colorectal cancer patients based on the long-term risk and timing of metastasis. Under different genetic models, 810,622 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed in univariable analysis. They performed multivariable analysis adjusting for significant baseline characteristics for SNPs reaching Bonferroni-corrected significance (P < 6.2 × 10^− 8) having valid genetic models. A significant association between specific genotypes of 10 polymorphisms and time-to-metastasis was observed after adjusting for significant baseline characteristics. These polymorphisms comprised three intergenic SNPs, rs5749032, rs2327990, rs1145724, and seven SNPs within the non-coding sequences of three genes: FHIT, EPHB1, and MIR7515. Overall, new links between specific genotypes of SNPs and early metastasis were suggested in this study populace.