The tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) gene plays an important role in the host immune response, which will influence the development and clearance of cancer. Polymorphism of the TNF-α promoter region is considered to influence its transcription and be a risk factor for tumorigenesis. In the current study, we evaluated the role of TNF-α promoter region polymorphisms in susceptibility to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer (CC).A total of 2732 subjects, including 1173 healthy controls, 579 patients with CIN and 980 patients with CC in a Chinese Han population, were selected for the current study. Five SNPs in the TNF-α promoter, rs1799964 (-1031 C>T), rs1800630 (-863 A>C), rs1799724 (-857 C>T), rs1800629 (-308 A>G) and rs361525 (-238 A>G), were selected and genotyped using TaqMan Assays. The association of these SNPs with CIN and cervical cancer was evaluated among healthy controls, CIN and CC patients.The frequency distribution of rs1800629 and rs361525 alleles was significantly different between the CC group and the control group (P=0.009 and P=0.002). The rs1800629 A allele was found to be a protective factor for CC (OR=0.72; 95% CI=0.56-0.92). The rs361525 A allele was found to be a risk factor for CC (OR=1.69; 95% CI=1.21-2.38). After pathological subtyping of CC, the allele distribution of rs1800629 and rs361525 were both significantly different between the cervical squamous cell carcinoma and control groups (P=0.002 and P<0.001). The rs1800629 A allele was protective factor for cervical squamous cell carcinoma (OR=0.66; 95% CI=0.50-0.86). The rs361525 A allele was a risk factor for cervical squamous cell carcinoma (OR=1.87; 95% CI=1.32-2.65). Moreover, the genotypic frequency of rs361525 was significantly different between cervical cancer stage I and stage II (P=0.003).The rs1800629 and rs361525 in the TNF-α promoter are associated with susceptibility to CC in the Chinese Han population.© 2022 Yang et al.