Population-based case-control interview studies of white men, 578 with leukemia, 622 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and 820 controls from Iowa and Minnesota and 173 with multiple myeloma and 452 controls from Iowa, offered the opportunity to investigate the relationship of these cancers with alcohol consumption. Although drinkers had non-significantly elevated risks for specific subtypes of leukemia (acute lymphocytic leukemia (OR = 3.0), myelodysplasia (OR = 1.6), and other leukemia (OR = 1.5)) and multiple myeloma (OR = 1.3), there were no statistically significant findings and no dose-response gradients with amount of alcohol consumed. Thus, these data suggest that alcohol is not an important contributor to the etiology of lymphatic and hematopoietic tumors.