Objective: To study the relationship between one polymorphism in the promoter of the DNA repair gene XPA and the susceptibility to lung cancer. Methods: Genotypes were determined by the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)method in 310 histologically-confirmed lung cancer cases and 341 age and sex frequency-matched cancer-free controls. Results: The XPA A23G genotype frequencies were 27.1% (AA), 42.9% (AG), and 30.0% (GG) in case patients and 21.1% (AA), 52.8% (AG),and 26.1% (GG) in control subjects. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that individuals carrying at least one 23G variant allele (AG + GG genotypes) had a significantly decreased risk for lung cancer (adjusted OR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.44- 0.98) compared with the wild-type genotype (23AA). Stratified analysis showed that the protective effect was more evident in subjects with a family history of cancer. Conclusion: These results suggest that the XPA A23G polymorphism may have a role in lung cancer susceptibility in this study population.