The polymorphism of p53 codon 72, a transversion of G to C (Arg to Pro), has been demonstrated to be associated with the risk for lung cancer. However, individual studies conducted in Asians have provided conflicting and inconclusive findings. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis by pooling all currently available case-control studies to estimate the effect of p53 codon 72 Arg/Pro polymorphism on the development of lung cancer. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with the corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (95 %CIs) were calculated to assess this effect. A total of 14 individual studies involving 7,929 cases and 5,924 controls were included into this meta-analysis according to the inclusion criteria. The overall OR for the dominant genetic model indicated that the p53 codon 72 Arg/Pro variant was positively correlated with lung cancer risk (ORArg/Pro + Pro/Pro vs. Arg/Arg = 1.14, 95 %CI 1.07-1.23, P OR < 0.001). Similar results were found in the stratified analysis of population-based studies. The histological types of lung cancer and smoking status seemed to exert no effect on the lung cancer risk. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability of the above findings. The updated meta-analysis suggests that the p53 codon 72 Arg/Pro polymorphism is a risk factor for lung cancer in the Asian population. However, the potential role of gene-environment interaction in lung cancer susceptibility needs further investigation in future studies with high quality.