In Xuanwei County, Yunnan Province, lung cancer mortality rates are among the highest in China in both males and females. Previous studies have shown a strong association of lung cancer mortality with indoor air pollution from ‘smoky’ coal combustion. In the present case-control study, 110 newly-diagnosed lung cancer patients and 426 controls were matched with respect to age, sex, occupation (all subjects were farmers), and village of residence (which provided matching with respect to fuel use). This design allowed assessment of known and suspected lung cancer risk factors other than those mentioned above. Data from males and females were analysed by conditional logistic regression. In females who do not smoke, the presence of lung cancer was statistically significantly associated with chronic bronchitis (odds ratio [OR] = 7.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.40–22.66) and family history of lung cancer (OR 4.18, 95% CI: 1.61–10.85). Females' results also suggested an association of lung cancer with duration of cooking food (OR 1.00, 9.18 and 14.70), but not with passive smoking (OR 0.77, 95% CI: 0.30–1.96). In males, lung cancer was significantly associated with chronic bronchitis (OR 7.32, 95% CI: 2.66–20.18), family history of lung cancer (OR 3.79, 95% CI: 1.70–8.42), and personal history of cooking food (OR 3.36, 95% CI: 1.27–8.88). In males a dose-response relationship of lung cancer with smoking index (years of smoking*amount of smoking) was shown by risks of 1.00, 2.61, 2.17 and 4.70.