Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) is a key enzyme in base excision repair (BER) pathway for the removal of many oxidized and alkylated bases. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the APE1gene have been demonstrated to be involved in carcinogenesis. However, the association between APE1 Asp148Glu polymorphism and lung cancer risk remains inconclusive. To derive a precise estimate for this association, we carried out an updated meta-analysis by pooling data thus far published. The pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) was calculated to assess the role of APE1 Asp148Glu polymorphism in lung carcinogenesis. The pooled ORs suggested that variant genotypes of APE1 Asp148Glu were modestly associated with an elevated risk of lung cancer (GluGlu vs. AspAsp, OR=1.22, 95 % CI 1.01-1.48, P=0.038; GluGlu vs. AspAsp + AspGlu, OR=1.19, 95 % CI 1.02-1.39, P=0.023). The relationship was also observed in studies conducted among Asians, but not Caucasians. Sensitivity analysis further confirmed the findings. The meta-analysis shows that the polymorphism of APE1 Asp148Glu exerts risk effect on lung cancer development.