Objective This study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and prognoses of primary Waldeyer's ring diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and extranodal nasal-type NK/T-cell lymphoma ( ENKTCL).Methods From 2000 to 2008,122 patients with primary Waldeyer's ring DLBCL and 44 patients with primary Waldeyer' s ring ENKTCL consecutively diagnosed were retrospectively compared.Patients with DLBCL usually received 4-6 cycles of CHOP-based chemotherapy followed by involved-field radiotherapy.Patients with early stage ENKTCL usually received extended-field radiotherapy with or without subsequent chemotherapy,or short courses ( 1 - 3 cycles ) of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis.Logrank method was used for univariate analysis.Results The follow-up rate was 82％.The number of patients followed 5 years were 32 and 15 in DLBCL and ENKTCL.DLBCL mainly presented with stage Ⅱ tonsillar disease with regional lymph node involvement.ENKTCL occurred predominately in young males,as nasopharyngeal stage I disease with B symptoms and involving adjacent structures.The 5-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 74％ and 67％ in DLBCL,and 68％ and 59％ in ENKTCL (x2=0.53,1.06,P=0.468,0.303),respectively.In stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ diseases,the 5-year OS and PFS rates were 79％ and 76％ for DLBCL compared to 72％ and 62％ for ENKTCL (x2 =1.20,2.46,P=0.273,0.117).On univariate analysis,age ＞ 60 years,elevated lactate dehydrogenase,eastern cooperative oncology group performance status ＞ 1,international prognosis index ( IPI ) score ≥ 1,stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ diseases and bulky disease were associated with unfavorable survival for DLBCL (x2=9.40,12.72,6.15,10.36,12.48,5.53,P=0.002,0.000,0.013,0.001,0.000,0.019),and only age＞60 years and IPI score ≥ 1 were associated with poor survival for ENKTCL (x2 =3.98,8.41,P =0.046,0.004).Conclusions These results indicate that remarkable clinical disparities exist between DLBCL and ENKTCL in Waldeyer's ring. Different treatment strategies for each can result in similarly favorable prognoses.