The cytochrome P450 2E 1 (CYP2E1) and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) have been demonstrated that they were related to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).However, the associations have not been explained conclusively, and the combined analysis with the CYP2E1 Rsa I polymorphism and the ALDH2 polymorphism have not been clarifed.In this study, we performed a metaanalysis to interpret the association between CYP2E1 and ALDH2 polymorphisms and HCC risk.Published literatures were retrieved from PubMed and Embase up to July, 2014.The pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated by using fixedeffects or randomeffects model.A total of twelve casecontrolled studies with 1 077 cancer cases and 2 000 controls concerning the CYP2E1 polymorphism were selected for this metaanalysis.The results indicated that there was no significantly associations between CYP2E1 polymorphism and risk of HCC (c1/c2 vs c1/c1 : OR =1.11,95% CI:0.88 ~ 1.39, P =0.38; c2/c2 vs c1/c1 : OR =0.90, 95% CI: 0.54 ~ 1.50, P =0.69; c1/c2 + c2/c2 vs c1/c1: OR =1.07, 95% CI: 0.89 ~ 1.30, P =0.47).Further analysis of subgroup based on the ethnicity also showed no statistically significant associated with risk of HCC between the East Asians and the Europeans.In addition, eight studies including 911 cases and 1 903 controls were included in this metaanalysis about the association between ALDH2 polymorphism and HCC risk.Results Based on our study also showed no significant association between ALDH2 polymorphism and the risk of HCC risk (* 1/* 2 vs * 1/* 1 : OR =0.92, 95% CI: 0.65 ~1.32, P=0.66; *2/*2vs *1/*1: 0R=0.82,95% CI: 0.57~1.18, P=0.28, *1/*2+ *2/*2vs *1/* 1 : OR =0.90, 95% CI: 0.63 ~ 1.29, P =0.57).The present metaanalysis indicated that there was no significant association between CYP2E1 polymorphism or ALDH2 polymorphism and HCC risk in the East Asians and the Europeans.