Background and Aims. Polymorphisms in DNA repair gene may alter an individual's DNA repair capacity and be associated with the risk of various cancers. This study was designed to investigate whether ERCC1 +262A/C and XPF -357A/C polymorphisms affect individual susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and gastric cardiac adenocarcinoma (GCA). Methods. In 389 ESCC patients vs. 778 healthy controls and 262 GCA patients vs. 524 healthy controls in a high incidence region of northern China, ERCC1 +262A/C polymorphism and XPF -357A/C polymorphism were genotyped by the method of polymerase chain reaction ligase detection reaction (PCR-LDR) and polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis, respectively. Results. Family history of upper gastrointestinal cancers (UGIC) may increase the risk of ESCC and GCA. Allelotype and genotype distributions of ERCC1 +262A/C and XPF -357A/C polymorphisms in ESCC and GCA patients were not significantly different from that in their respective controls (p >0.05). Compared with ERCC1 +262C/C genotype, A/A genotype decreased the risk of GCA in nonsmokers (age, gender and family history of UGIC adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.13-0.70). Neither the A/C nor the C/C genotype was associated with the overall risk of ESCC and GCA when compared with the XPF -357A/A genotype. Conclusions. ERCC1 +262A/A genotype may reduce the risk of GCA for nonsmokers. XPF -357A/C polymorphism was not associated with the risk of ESCC and GCA in a population of a high-incidence region in northern China. (C) 2012 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Inc.