Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) belongs to r-DNA herpes virus family and the first discovered virus associated with human tumors. Numerous studies have found that EBV infection is related to the occurrence of a variety of lymphomas, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, NK/T-cell lymphoma, HIV-related lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Recent studies indicated that the gene expression products of EBV latent infections play an important role in the lymphoma, and these findings provide the theoretical basis for the treatment of EBV-related lymphoma. This review mainly discusses the progress in the mechanism and the therapy of EBV-related lymphoma.