The group of pattern recognition receptors includes families of Toll-like receptors, NOD-like receptors, C-type lectin receptors, and RIG-I-like receptors. They are key sensors for a number of infectious agents, some of which are oncogenic, and they launch an immune response against them, normally promoting their eradication. Inherited variations in genes encoding these receptors and proteins and their signaling pathways may affect their function, possibly modulating cancer risk and features of cancer progression. There are numerous studies investigating the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms within or near genes encoding Toll-like receptors and NOD-like receptors, cancer risk, and features of cancer progression. However, there is an almost total absence of articles analyzing the correlation between polymorphisms of genes encoding C-type lectin receptors and RIG-I-like receptors and cancer risk or progression. Nevertheless, there is some evidence supporting the hypothesis that inherited C-type lectin receptor and RIG-I-like receptor variants can be associated with increased cancer risk. Certain C-type lectin receptors and RIG-I-like receptors recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns of potentially oncogenic infectious agents, and certain polymorphisms of genes encoding C-type lectin receptors and RIG-I-like receptors may have functional consequences at the molecular level that can lead to association of such single nucleotide polymorphisms with risk or progression of some diseases that may modulate cancer risk, so these gene polymorphisms may affect cancer risk indirectly. Polymorphisms of genes encoding C-type lectin receptors and RIG-I-like receptors thereby may be correlated with a risk of lung, oral, esophageal, gastric, colorectal, and liver cancer, as well as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, glioblastoma, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma. The list of the most promising polymorphisms for oncogenomic investigations may include rs1926736, rs2478577, rs2437257, rs691005, rs2287886, rs735239, rs4804803, rs16910526, rs36055726, rs11795404, and rs10813831. © 2012 Kutikhin and Yuzhalin, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd.