Objective Retrospective analysis of clinical features, treatment results and prognostic factors in 19 patients with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Methods Diagnostic and treatment data of 19 patients with ALCL from Jan 2003 to Feb 2007 were analyzed. Results Among the sample group, 18 patients (94.74 %) shows B-symptoms, extranodal involvement is present in 14 patients (73.7 %), clinical misdiagnosis rate reaches 84.2 %. The overall response rate to chemotherapy is 100 %, complete remission rate after 6 courses chemotherapy were 95 %, the probabilities of event free survival at 1 and 2 years were both 88.2 %, relapse occurred in one case. Conclusion In the studied group, majority of ALCL patients have B-symptom. Extranodal involvement is present earlier, and clinical misdiagnosis rate is high. While it' s found that ALCL is sensitive to chemotherapy and tend to get good prognosis.