In response to many forms of cellular stress, including DNA damage, the p53 protein functions to induce growth arrest, DNA repair, or apoptosis. Common allele variants in the TP53 gene modulate pathways of lung carcinogenesis and susceptibility to or prognosis of lung cancer. The prognostic role of the polymorphism was assessed in 422 subjects using PCR-RFLP. Logistic regression analysis showed a dominant presentation of Pro/Pro homozygotes in lung carcinoma population than in control population (OR = 2.1, P = 0.003). We further investigated the association of p53 codon 72 polymorphism with prognosis in 170 lung cancer patients. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses showed a significant difference in survival between p53 variant genotypes and overall survival (P = 0.02). Cox regression analysis showed p53 Arg72Pro heterozygous genotype was overall an independent prognostic factor (Risk ratio of death, 2.2; P = 0.02), suggesting Pro72Pro genotype to be a potential risk factor favoring the development of lung carcinoma and that Arg72Pro genotype is independently associated with a poorer prognosis of lung cancer.