In our meta‐analysis results, 13 variants were not significantly associated with EC or ESCC risk.37, 42, 60, 78, 79 The variants (Arg399Gln on XRCC1) with sample sizes >10 000 were also not significantly associated with EC; further investigations for this variant may not be fruitful. This evidence concerns the gene XRCC1 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.