Many studies were published to examine the association between XRCC3 C241T polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk, but their results were inconsistent. To assess the association between XRCC3 C241T polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk more precisely, a meta-analysis was performed. PubMed, Embase and Wanfang databases were searched for relevant case-control studies. Data were extracted, and the pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. Finally, seven studies comprising 2,288 cases with hepatocellular carcinoma and 3,249 controls were included into the meta-analysis. Overall, there was an obvious association between XRCC3 C241T polymorphism and increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (TT versus CC: OR = 3.31, 95% CI 1.52-7.19, P = 0.003; TT versus
Cc/ct: OR = 3.31, 95% CI 1.81-6.06, P < 0.001). After adjusting for heterogeneity, there was still an obvious association between XRCC3 C241T polymorphism and increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (TT versus CC: OR = 1.92, 95 % CI 1.13-3.26, P = 0.016; TT versus
Cc/ct: OR = 2.10, 95% CI 1.25-3.55, P = 0.005). Overall, there is a significant association between XRCC3 C241T polymorphism and increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Further studies are needed to further assess the association in Caucasians.