Studies investigating the association between interleukin-10 -819 promoter polymorphism and gastric cancer risk report conflicting results. This study aimed to summarize quantitatively the evidence for such a relationship. Two investigators independently searched the Medline (January 1966-January 2009) and Embase (January 1980-January 2009) databases for eligible studies to be included in a meta-analysis. Six case-control studies, which included 681 gastric cancer cases and 1621 control subjects were selected. Combined results for all studies showed that there was no significant difference in genotype distribution (TT, TC or CC) between gastric cancer patients and control subjects. When stratifying for race, results were similar except that Asian patients with gastric cancer had a significantly lower frequency of TT and a higher frequency of TC than Asian control subjects. When stratifying by location and Lauren's classification of gastric cancer, there was no significant difference in genotype distribution between patients with gastric cancer and control subjects. This meta-analysis suggests that the interleukin-10 -819 promoter polymorphism may be associated with gastric cancer in Asians.