Side population (SP) cells are characterized by the ability to exclude Hoechst 33342 dye due to high expression of the ATP-binding cassette transporter. This ability is associated with drug-resistant characteristics of cancer stem cells.,We analyzed SP cells from human B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell lines and primary cells derived from patients and compared them with non-SP (NSP) cells.,SP cells comprised a minor fraction of all cells ranging from 1.5 ± 1.8 to 8.3 ± 5.7% in cell lines and had higher ABCG2 expression than NSP cells. SP cells had better cell viability, colony-forming ability and drug resistance than NSP cells. The SP cells also showed stem cell-like characteristics, including elevated telomerase activity and higher expression of OCT4 and NANOG. A cDNA microarray demonstrated that SP cells had decreased expression of genes associated with apoptosis and cell death compared to NSP cells.,The presence of SP cells might imply the possibility of lymphoma stem cells and be associated with a malignant potential of B-cell lymphoma.