Between Aug. 1986 and Apr. 1990, a total of 78 cases of gastric cancer were admitted to the Tz’u-Chi Buddhist General Hospital. The male to female ratio was 2.4 to 1. Mean age of diagnosis for male patients was 63.6 years, and that for female patients was 61.2 years. Abdo-minal pain and abdominal mass were the most common symptoms. Elevated LDH and hypoalbuminemic were the most common abnormal laboratory data. The resection rate was 30.8% (24/78). One-year survival rate and 2-year survival rate were 55.5% and 33.3%, respect-tively. Average survival period for these cases was 13.6 months. Six patients (7.7%) under-went palliative surgery and average survival period for them was 94.4 days. Average survival period for inoperable cases was 51.2 days. Low resection rate was one of the most important factors affecting the prognosis.