The progressive shortening of telomeres at each cell division is a key mechanism in controlling cell proliferative capacity. The activation of telomerase, a reverse transcriptase that extends telomere length, leads to unlimited cell proliferation and is believed to play a critical role in the neoplastic process. Telomerase activity is a potential target for future therapeutic interventions since inhibition of telomerase has been shown to result in telomere shortening and cell death in vitro. The aim of this work was to evaluate telomerase activity in various types of malignant lymphoma by means of a semi-quantitative assay based on the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) method. Sixteen lymphoma patients were included in the study. All of them (100%) had Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) of which 15 (93.75%) were of the B cell type and only one (6.25%) was a peripheral T cell lymphoma. Ten non-neoplastic lymphoid tissues as well as a two peripheral blood samples from healthy volunteers were included as a control. Telomerase activity was detected in 75% of lymphoma samples and only in 8% of controls. The difference between lymphoma and control groups regarding the presence of telomerase activity was statistically significant. The relative telomerase activity was significantly higher in lymphoma than control. No significant correlation emerged between telomerase activity and immunophenotyping or pathological type of lymphoma. These data provide evidence that anti-telomerase drugs may be effective in most types of NHL.