Background We have recently reported from Epilymph, a multicentre case-control study of lymphoma conducted in six European countries, a significant association between NHL and self-reported history of past or present HBV infection based on questionnaire data from face-to-face interviews. Methods To corroborate this observation, we used the data and blood specimen from Epilymph to investigate the associations between serological indicators of HBV infection with risk of Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and specific lymphoma entities. For 1,518 cases and 1,496 controls with sufficient amount of serum or plasma, we tested HBs-antigen, anti-HBc and anti-HBs to distinguish between current or past infection and immunity by vaccination. Statistical analysis was carried out with unconditional logistic regression. Results We found a positive association of a past HBV infection with multiple myeloma (MM, OR = 1.97, 95 % CL = 1.16-3.37). Non-significant associations were found between past HBV infection and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL, OR = 1.33, 95 % CL = 0.82-2.16) and T-cell NHL (OR = 1.59, 95 % CL = 0.65-3.90), as well as between current HBV infection and NHL (OR = 1.49, 95 % CL = 0.65-3.41), B-NHL (OR = 1.58, 95 % CL = 0.69-3.64) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL, OR = 1.50, 95 % CL = 0.47-4.82). Subjects having self-reported HBV infection were serological positive in 75 % of cases and 80 % of controls. For vaccination, the corresponding figures were 49 and 54 %, respectively. Conclusion The present results support previous reports of an association between a history of HBV infection with an elevated lymphoma risk and add multiple myeloma to the list of potentially virus-associated lymphoma entities. © Springer-Verlag 2012.