OBJECTIVES: Review the Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in the last 10 years and its epidemiological behavior in Colombia. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of the literature on behavior and treatment of NHL (2000-2011), in PubMed, EBSCO, Science Direct and Cochrane; employing combined MeSH terms with the mean descriptor Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. To determine the epidemiological behavior of the disease reviewed the Cancer Registry of Cali, deaths according to vital statistics of DANE (ICD-10, C82-C85), GLOBOCAN records and Mortality Atlas Cancer in Colombia 2002-2006. RESULTS: In the period 2001-2005, the estimated incidence rate for NHL was 10.5 in men and 7.8 women per 100,000 per-year. The incidence rate is multiplied almost 10 times between 45 and 49 years old, until 25 times between 65 and 69 years and 30 times after 80 years of age.  In 2000-2008, the mortality rate was 1.87 per 100,000, it was: 2.11 in men and 1.63 in women per 100,000, for a male: female ratio of 1.26. The median age of the disease to Colombia is 56 years. In 2006, the NHL was ranked eleventh in mortality in our country. Among males was the tenth leading cause of death, and in women, the twelfth. CONCLUSIONS: The NHL mortality rate in the period 2000-2008 shows a slight upward trend, especially in the years 2005 and 2008. In Colombia, the increased risk of death in men compared to women, the distribution of deaths by age group, with peaks in young adults (15-44 years) and seniors (+65 years) - and the geographical distribution has the highest mortality in the central region (area of ​​industrial activity) promote occupational scenarios. The treatment of NHL has advanced significantly in the last decade, with high mortality neoplasia became a curable type of cancer in a high proportion of patients.