Despite the major impact of lymphoma on public health, relatively little is known about the aetiology of this group of malignancies, and the few established risk factors include age, family history, genetic factors, immunosuppression and viral infections.1 Insulin‐like growth factors (IGFs) have potential cancer promoting activities and circulating concentrations of IGF‐I have been shown to be associated with risk for developing several types of cancer.2, 3 However, the hypothesis that IGF‐I is related to overall lymphoma risk has not yet been examined prospectively. Here, IGF1 is linked to cancer.