Perturbations in cell cycle and DNA repair genes might affect susceptibility to cancer. The aim of this meta-analysis is to generate large-scale evidence to determine the degree to which common Cyclin D1 (CCND1) G870A (dbSNP: rs603965) and xeroderma pigmentosum group C (XPC) Ala499Val (dbSNP: rs2228000) polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to bladder cancer. The electronic databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CNKI were searched for relevant studies (with an upper date limit of July 25, 2013). The principal outcome measure for evaluating the strength of association was crude odds ratios (ORs) along with their corresponding confidence intervals (95 %CIs). We found and reviewed nine case-control studies on CCND1 G870A with a total of 6,823 subjects and seven studies on XPC Ala499Val with a total of 7,674 subjects. Our meta-analysis provides evidence that the variant genotype of CCND1 G870A showed a significant association in the occurrence of invasive bladder tumors in former and current smokers. The XPC Ala499Val polymorphism correlated with significant differences between patients and unaffected subjects, but when the groups were stratified by ethnicity, the magnitude of the overall effect was similar only among Caucasian populations. Results from our meta-analysis support the view that the G870A polymorphism may modulate the risk of bladder cancer in conjunction with tobacco smoking and that the Ala499Val polymorphism may contribute to the susceptibility to bladder cancer in Caucasian populations. Our findings, however, warrant larger well-designed studies to investigate the significance of these two polymorphisms as markers of susceptibility to bladder cancer.