quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) C609T gene polymorphism has been reported to influence the risk for esophageal cancer (EC) in many studies; however, the results remain controversial and ambiguous. We therefore carried out a meta-analysis of published case-control studies to investigate the association between NQO1 C609T polymorphism and EC susceptibility. Electronic searches were conducted on links between this variant and EC in several databases. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for homozygous, dominant model, recessive model and allele were calculated to estimate the strength of associations in fixed and random effect models. Heterogeneity and publication bias were also assessed. A total of 11 case-control studies were identified, including1,619 cases and 2,101 controls. C allele was associated with a decreased susceptibility risk of EC compared with the T allele among Chinese (OR = 0.70; 95% CI = 0.59-0.84). The contrast of homozygotes and the recessive and dominant models produced the same pattern of results as the allele contrast. Our pooled data suggest a significant association exists between NQO1 C609T polymorphism and EC among Chinese.