Seven imputed studies were filled when trim and fill tests were performed to eliminate the influence of publication bias on the random effects model, and the overall OR (2.49, 95% CI: 1.18 to 5.26) was still significant, although it was slightly smaller than that in the crude meta-analysis (4.67, 95% CI: 2.66 to 8.22), indicating the existence of a strong association between APC promoter methylation and lung cancer. This evidence concerns the gene APC and lung carcinoma.