Objective To study the expression and clinical significance of Livin ( anti-apoptosis protein) and Smac (promoting apoptosis factor) in patients with the non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).Methods The expression of Livin and Smac were detected by immunohistochemical staining(SP) assay in 31 patients with NHL, and the relationship between Livin/Smac and clinical staging, IPI and prognosis were analyzed. Results The patients with positive expression of Livin had B symptom, high risk IPI, late clinical staging (Ⅲ/Ⅳ stage) and short survival time, while the ones with positive expression of Smac had no B symptom, early clinical staging( Ⅰ /Ⅱ stage), low risk IPI and good prognosis. The expressions of both Livin and Smac were not related to gender and age. Expression of Livin was not correlated to that of Smac (r =0.003,P ＞0.05). Conclusion For patients with NHL, the expression of Livin protein was related to poor prognosis and adverse clinical features, whereas the expression of Smac protein was related to good prognosis and clinical feature.