Background and objective Studies found that there were changes in histological subtypes of lung cancer patients in China. This study investigated the effect of smoking on lung cancer histology and its trend in Chinese male. Methods Demographic, smoking history and histological information about male lung cancer patients diagnosed or treated from 2000 to 2012 was collected from Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science. Trends of histological subtypes calculated with annual percentage change (APC). Results A total of 14,106 patients with lung cancer were enrolled, with smoking 11,750 cases and non-smoking 2,356 cases. The main histological type of smoking lung cancer was squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)(39.38%), followed by adenocarcinoma (ADC)(29.85%). Among smokers, the proportion of SCC decreased from 44.19% to 35.50% (APC=-1.9%, P