OBJECTIVETo provide evidence for decision-making on lung cancer prevention through studying the main risk factors related to the incidence of lung cancer in Chinese people.

METHODSThe results from 41 epidemiological studies on risk factors of lung cancer from 1990 to 2001 were analyzed synthetically by Meta-analysis. The cumulative cases and controls were 5,600 and 6,892, respectively.

RESULTSThe pools odds ratio (OR) values of mentality (3.34), smoking (3.04), indoor coal pollution (3.20), indoor cooking oil fume pollution (2.72), family history of lung cancer (2.61), vegetables (0.49), fruits (0.69), BMI (1.57), family history of other tumour (2.97), personal history of respiratory system diseases (2.66), ventilation in kitchen (2.13), coal ever used in life (1.50), and exposure to environmental tobacco smoking (1.42).

CONCLUSIONThe main factors influencing the incidence of lung cancer in Chinese people were patients, mentality, smoking, indoor environmental pollution, personal history of respiratory system diseases, family history of cancer, intake of vegetables, fruits and so on.