Conflicting results were implicated in both single case-control studies and meta-analyses of the correlation between p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism and lung cancer risk. We designed this study to further assess the association by meta-analysis. A meta-analysis was performed based on five case-control studies (5,467 subjects) retrieved from PubMed and Embase. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were measured for the association using the models of random effects and fixed effects. The results showed no evidence between p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism and lung cancer risk in any genetic model (allele model: OR, 1.06, 95 % CI, 0.89-1.26; homozygote genotypes: OR, 1.18, 95 % CI, 0.80-1.73; heterozygote genotypes: OR, 1.04, 95 % CI, 0.89-1.23; dominant model: OR, 1.05, 95 % CI, 0.89-1.24; recessive model: OR, 1.17, 95 % CI, 0.93-1.47). Subgroup analyses according to ethnicity, however, detected significant association in Caucasian population. Our study provides evidence that p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism may play a major role in susceptibility to lung cancer in Caucasians.