This paper reports 40 patients with primary gastric malignant lymphoma as proved by pathology and treated in our hospital from October 1958 to December 1984. There were 20 males and 20 females, including 3 Hodgkin's disease and 37 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The patients were treated by surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy separately or combined. In this series, the 5 and 10 year survival rates were 48.6% and 47.6%. The combination of surgery with postoperative radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy gave better results. In postoperative radiation to the whole abdomen, the tissue dose should not be less than 30-35 Gy. The incidence, diagnosis, clinical staging and the indication of primary gastric malignant lymphoma are discussed with a review of literature.