Background: Previous studies on the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk obtained controversial findings. This study aimed to quantify the strength of the association by meta-analysis. Methods: We searched PubMed and Wangfang databases for published studies on the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and HCC risk, using the pooled odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for assessment. Results: 10 studies with a total of 2,026 cases and 2,733 controls were finally included into this meta-analysis. Overall, the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism was not associated with HCC risk (all P values greaterth HCC risk in Caucasians in three genetic models (For Pro versus Arg, OR = 1.20, 95%CI 1.03-1.41; For ProPro versus ArgArg, OR = 1.74, 95%CI 1.23-2.47; For ProPro versus ArgPro/ArgArg, OR = 1.85, 95%CI 1.33-2.57). However, there was no significant association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and HCC risk in East Asians (all P values greater than 0.10). No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusion: Meta-analyses of available data suggest an obvious association between the TP53 Arg72Pro and HCC risk in Caucasians. However, the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may have a race-specific effect on HCC risk and further studies are needed to elucidate this possible effect.