Abstract: Objective This study was designed to investigate the correlation of MMP-12 A-82G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and gastric cardiac carcinoma (GCA) in a population of high incidence region of Hebei Province. Methods MMP-12 promoter SNP (A-82G) was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis in 316 ESCC patients, 243 GCA patients and 609 healthy controls. Results The overall genotype and allelotype distributions of MMP-12 in ESCC and GCA patients were not significantly different from those in healthy controls (P>0.05). When stratified for smoking status, the A/A, A/G genotype frequencies of MMP-12 in GCA patient and healthy controls of smoker group were 89.8%, 10.2% and 95.0%, 5.0% respectively, there was difference between two groups but no significant statistical difference（χ2=3.43，P=0.06）.And the A/G genotype frequencies of MMP-12 in GCA patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls, compared with A/A genotype, individuals with A/G genotype have a tendency of increasing susceptibility to GCA in smoker group (OR=2.13, 95% CI=0.94～4.83). Conclusion s In high incidence region of Hebei Province, the overall genotype and allelotype distributions of MMP-12 A-82G in ESCC and GCA patients were not significantly different from those in healthy controls; and in smoking individuals, A/G genotype probably is a risk factor for GCA.