Patients with malignant tumor including hematological malignancies have high plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and excessive production of TNF is associated with polymorphic variation of TNF locus. TNF polymorphism affects TNF expression by affecting transcriptional regulation. The aim of this paper was to review the correlation between TNF polymorphism and hematological malignancies such as lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, hairy cell leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma and to make preparation for further research of their relationship.