Proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and IL-1beta are considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma (MM). In the present study, we examined a G/C polymorphism at position -174 in the promoter region of IL-6, a biallelic polymorphism at position -308 in the promoter region of TNF-alpha, the TaqI restriction fragment length polymorphism in exon 5 of IL-1beta and a variable number of identical tandem repeat polymorphisms in intron 2 of IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) genes. The alleles of these loci are known to influence the level of production of the cytokines and the IL-1Ra. Seventy-three patients with MM, 27 with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and 129 healthy individuals were included. No difference was found between patients and healthy controls or between MM and MGUS patients in the distributions of genotypes and frequencies of alleles of the IL-6 (-174), TNF-alpha (-308), IL-1beta TaqI and IL-1Ra gene polymorphisms. No associations between the polymorphisms at the loci under study and clinical factors such as age, sex, clinical stage at onset and M-protein type were observed. Our results indicate that the cytokine (IL-6, TNF-alpha and IL-1beta) and IL-Ra gene polymorphisms do not confer susceptibility to the development of MM.