Abstract: Objective: To investigate the differences between the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic fac -tors in patients with localized and infiltrative gastric cancer (GC). Methods:Patients with advanced GC, who were admitted to the Department of Surgical Oncology of the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, during the pe -riod January 1980 to January 2000, were divided into localized and infiltrative GC groups. A comparative analysis of the clinicopathologic data and prognosis in the patients enrolled in the study was carried out based on the different macroscop-ic types. Results: There were significant differences in the sex ratio, tumor location, histologic type, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, lymphovascular cancer embolus (LVCE), growth pattern, and degree of radical surgery between the 2 groups. However, there were no significant differences in age, tumor size, and intravenous cancer embolus between the 2 groups. The prognosis of the infiltrative GC group was poor. There were significant differences in the prognosis of the patients between the 2 groups when tumor infiltration was within the muscular layer or subserosa, yet the differences disap -peared once the tumor infiltration was beyond the serosal layer. The prognosis of the patients with localized GC was close-ly related to tumor location and lymph node metastasis. The prognostic factors of the patients in the infiltrative GC group in -cluded lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion, and tumor size. Conclusion:There are significant differences in the clini-copathologic characteristics and prognosis between the 2 groups. Based on the biological characteristics of the tumors, in dividualized therapeutic plans for patients will help to improve treatment outcomes.