Interleukin-10 (IL-10) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been indicated to be correlated with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) susceptibility. However, the results of these studies on the association remain inconsistent. This meta-analysis was conducted to derive a more accuracy estimation of the association between the common SNPs (rs1800890, rs1800896, rs1800871 and rs1800872) in IL-10 and NHL risk. Meta-analyses were performed on 21 studies with 7,749 cases and 8584 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the NHL risk. Meta-analyses showed that rs1800890, rs1800871 and rs1800872 polymorphisms had no association with NHL risk. However, rs1800896 polymorphism has association with NHL risk based on the following comparison models (G vs. A: OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.00-1.29; AG vs. AA: OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.05-1.37; GG+AG vs. AA: OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.08-1.39). In the ethnic subgroup analysis, rs1800896 had an increased NHL risk in Caucasians based on the heterozygote model (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.04-1.41) and dominant model (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.00-1.48). When stratified by subtypes, rs1800890, rs1800896 and rs1800872 polymorphisms were found significant association with an increased risk of diffuse large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) in different comparison models, whereas negative results were obtained for Follicular Lymphoma (FL) and chronic lymphocytic Leukemia/small lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL/SLL) in all genetic models. Our meta-analysis suggested that the rs1800896 polymorphism had an increased risk with NHL susceptibility, where as the rs1800890, rs1800871 and rs1800872 had no association with NHL risk. Among the common subtypes of NHL, three polymorphisms (rs1800890, rs1800896 and rs1800872) had significant association with DLBCL risk.
