Eighty-four Chinese patients with gastrointestinal lymphoma were reviewed. There were 45 gastric and 39 intestinal lymphomas. The median age was 45 years and the male to female ratio 1.14:1. Diffuse histiocytic (60 per cent) or diffuse large cell (53.5 per cent) lymphoma comprised a majority of the cases. A high incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding at presentation was observed in our patients. According to a modified staging classification, a larger proportion of patients with intestinal lymphoma had advanced disease (Stage III and IV) than those with gastric lymphoma (82 per cent versus 55 per cent, p less than 0.02) and gastric lymphoma carried a better prognosis. The modified staging classification used in this study appeared to stratify better the patients into 2 sub-groups of localized (Stage I and II) and advanced (Stage III and IV) disease, which correlated very well with the prognosis. Good treatment results were obtained following intensive therapy in our patients with localized disease (Stage I and II). The poorer treatment results of patients with advanced disease (Stage III and IV) call for better chemotherapy regimens and earlier diagnosis. Surgical resection of the primary gastrointestinal lesion is recommended to prevent haemorrhage and perforation following chemotherapy, which occurred in 38 per cent of our patients whose gastrointestinal lesions were not resected.