BACKGROUND Programmed death-1 and its ligand-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) regulate tumor immunotherapy. A large number of studies have explored the relationship between PD-1, PD-L1, and different tumor susceptibility. However, these conclusions are not always consistent. Therefore, we updated this meta-analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE and other databases were searched systematically to obtain related research. Then, we used STATA15.0 software to carry out the final meta-analysis. The computational advantage is better than OR to evaluate this relationship. RESULTS A total of a total of 28 related studies were involved in our meta-analysis. It was found that PD-1 rs11568821 and rs7421861 increased the overall cancer probability in the allelic genetic model, while PD-1 rs36084323 effectively reduced the risk of cancer in the dominant genetic model. In the homozygous genetic model, PD-L1 rs17718883 effectively increased the probability of tumorigenesis. PD-L1rs4143815 is associated with a reduced incidence of cancer in heterozygote, homozygote and dominant genetic patterns. Subgroup analysis showed that PD-1rs2227981 can promote the susceptibility to breast cancer, while PD-1rs2227982 can reduce the susceptibility to breast cancer. PD-L1 rs2890658 can significantly reduce the risk of lung and liver cancer. CONCLUSIONS PD-1rs11568821, rs36084323, rs7421861, pD-L1rs17718883, and rs4143815 are associated with tumor susceptibility. However, a review based on more experimental evidence is needed to verify our findings.