BackgroundIt has been shown that gene polymorphisms may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of esophageal cancer. This study is to investigate the role of alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) gene Arg47His polymorphism in esophageal cancer susceptibility.MethodsCase-control studies published between January 2000 and June 2015 were searched to retrieve relevant articles. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) were employed to calculate the strength of association.ResultsA total of 23 relevant articles were finally selected for the analysis, including 9338 esophageal cancer patients and 14,896 matched controls. Overall, we found that the 47His allele was significant associated with the decreased risk of esophageal cancer when compared with the 47Arg allele in total populations (A vs. G: OR = 0.67, 95 % CI = 0.59–0.76, P < 0.00001). This protective relationship was observed under other genetic models as well (P < 0.00001). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity showed that ADH1B Arg47His variant was associated with the decreased esophageal cancer risk under all the genetic models (P < 0.00001) among Asians, especially in Chinese and Japanese; while in non-Asians, no significant correlation was detected in any genetic models (P > 0.05). Furthermore, Arg/Arg genotype of ADH1B Arg47His variant combined with drinking, smoking and males appeared to show a high risk in patients with esophageal cancer.ConclusionsOur results suggested that ADH1B gene Arg47His variant was associated with the decreased esophageal cancer risk. Genetic-environmental interaction should be further considered in the future researches.