Abstract: Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis of esophageal cancer pa -tients without lymph node metastasis. Methods:We reviewed the clinicopathological data of 132 early gastric cancer pa-tients without lymph node metastasis seen in our hospital between January 1983and December 2003. Results: Tumor size and depth of invasion were correlated with early gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis ( P<0.05). No correlations were found between prognosis and tumor location, tumor size, macroscopic type, or histological type (P>0.05). Depth of in -vasion was correlated with prognosis (P<0.05). The 3- and 5-year survival rates were 91.3% and 84.9%, respectively. Conclusion: Depth of invasion is an independent prognostic factor for early gastric cancer. Precise evaluation of lymph node me -tastasis before and during surgery is essential for the selection of treatment and improvement of prognosis of early gastric cancer.