A male patient with localized low grade stage IEA rectal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is presented. The treatment of choice suggested by the literature is surgical excision, which, in this patient, would have resulted in abdominoperineal resection. He was successfully treated with radical radiotherapy and is well with no evidence of disease 4 years after treatment. A brief review of the literature on the clinical features, pathology and treatment of this condition is presented.