Overall, the heterogeneity of all five genetic models were acceptable (I2 ≤ 40 %), and meta-analysis based on fixed-effects model showed that there was no association of XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism with risk of lung cancer [(OR = 0.97, 95 % CI = 0.92–1.03) for Trp vs. Arg, Fig. 2; (OR = 0.92, 95 % CI = 0.85–0.98) for ArgTrp vs. ArgArg; (OR = 1.07, 95 % CI = 0.92–1.23) for TrpTrp vs. ArgArg; (OR = 0.93, 95 % CI = 0.87–1.00) for (TrpTrp + ArgTrp) vs. ArgArg; and (OR = 1.08, 95 % CI = 0.94–1.25) for TrpTrp vs. (ArgTrp + ArgArg)]. This evidence concerns the gene XRCC1 and lung cancer.