X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1), one of the >20 genes that participate in the base excision repair (BER) pathway, is thought to account for differences in lung cancer susceptibility. Our meta-analysis on 2861 cases (lung cancer patients) and 2783 controls from eight eligible studies in Chinese populations showed that for the XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism, compared with the Arg/Arg homozygous genotype, the variant Arg/Trp and Trp/Trp genotypes combined was not associated with lung cancer risk (OR = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.89-1.27) (Z = 0.70, P = 0.48), nor was Arg280His (OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.28-1.41) (Z = 1.12, P = 0.26); however, for the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism, the combination of variant Arg/Gln and Gln/Gln genotypes was borderline significantly associated with lung cancer risk (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.00-1.36) (Z = 1.90, P = 0.06), compared with the Arg/Arg homozygous genotype. Therefore, in the eight published studies in Chinese populations, we found little evidence of an association between the combined variant genotypes of the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and the increased risk of lung cancer. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.