Wilms tumour is a renal malignancy that commonly occurs in children. LIN28A gene overexpression has been reported to be involved in various human malignancies, while its roles in Wilms tumour risk are still under investigation. Here, we genotyped four LIN28A polymorphisms in 355 Wilms tumour patients and 1070 healthy controls from four hospitals in China. The genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) include the following: rs3811464 G>A, rs3811463 T>C, rs34787247 G>A and rs11247957 G>A. Overall, we found that rs3811463 T>C and rs34787247 G>A were associated with increased risk of Wilms tumour. Combination analysis of risk genotypes showed that, compared to non-carriers, subjects with 1 risk genotype and 1-3 risk genotypes were more likely to develop Wilms tumour, with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.58 and 1.56, respectively. Stratified analysis further demonstrated that the risk effect remained prominent in some subgroups. We also found that presence of 1-3 risk genotypes was associated with Wilms tumour risk in subgroups > 18 months of age, females, males and those with clinical stage I + II diseases. Furthermore, expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis indicated that rs3811463 C allele was significantly associated with increased transcripts of LIN28A gene. These findings suggest that LIN28A gene polymorphisms may be associated with increased predisposition to Wilms tumour. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.