The potentially functional polymorphism, rs763110 (À844C4T), in the promoter region of the FAS ligand (FASL) gene, has been implicated in cancer risk, but individually published studies show inconclusive results. To derive a more precise estimation of the association between the FASL rs763110 and risk of cancer, we performed a meta-analysis of 19 published studies that included 11 105 cancer cases and 11 372 controls. We used odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the associations. Overall, the rs763110 CT and TT variant genotypes were associated with a significantly reduced cancer risk of all cancer types in different genetic models (homozygote comparison: OR ¼ 0.80, 95% CI: 0.68-0.95, P heterogeneity ¼ 0.001; heterozygote comparison: OR ¼ 0.82, 95% CI: 0.72 -0.95, P heterogeneity o0.001; dominant model comparison: OR ¼ 0.82, 95% CI: 0.71 -0.94, P heterogeneity o0.001; and recessive model comparison: OR ¼ 0.88, 95% CI: 0.81 -0.96, P heterogeneity ¼ 0.074). In the stratified analyses, the risk remained for studies of the smoking-related cancers and Asian populations, or population-based studies in all the genetic models. Although some modest bias could not be eliminated, this meta-analysis suggests that the FASL rs763110 T allele has a possible protective effect on cancer risk.