Recently, we have read with great interest the article entitled "The association between polymorphisms in the leptin receptor (LEPR) gene and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and pooled analysis" published online by Wang et al. (Breast Cancer Res Treat 136:231-239, 2012). This article suggests that the A allele of LEPR gene rs1137101 variant was low-penetrant risk factor for developing breast cancer. The result is encouraging. Nevertheless, several key issues are worth noticing.