We conducted a population‐based case‐control study in Connecticut women to test the hypothesis that genetic variations in Th1 and Th2 cytokine genes may modify the association between blood transfusion and risk of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Compared with women without blood transfusion, women with a history of transfusion had an increased risk of NHL if they carried IL10RA (rs9610) GG genotype [odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1–3.2] or TNF (rs1800629) AG/AA genotypes (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.9–2.7). We also found women with a history of transfusion had a decreased risk of NHL if they carried IL10RA (rs9610) AG/AA genotypes (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4–0.9) or TNF (rs1800629) GG genotype (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5–1.0). A similar pattern was also observed for B‐cell lymphoma but not for T‐cell lymphoma. Statistically significant interactions with blood transfusion were observed for IL10RA (rs9610) (Pforinteraction = 0.003) and TNF (rs1800629) (Pforinteraction = 0.012) for NHL overall and IL10RA (rs9610) (Pforinteraction = 0.001) and TNF (rs1800629) (Pforinteraction = 0.019) for B‐cell lymphoma. The results suggest that genetic polymorphisms in TNF and IL10RA genes may modify the association between blood transfusion and NHL risk. Am. J. Hematol. 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.