Abstract: Autophagy is the process through which cells utilize lysosomal hydrolases to degrade cytoplasmic misfolded proteins and damaged organelles. This process allows cells to reuse degradation products and degrade harmful substances to maintain intracellular stability. The autophagy level is low at the normal cell state. Cells under unfavorable conditions activate autophagy to eliminate adverse factors. An increasing number of studies have shown that autophagy plays important roles in tumorigenesis, tumor progression, metastasis, relapse, and drug resistance. However, the detailed mechanisms remain unclear. This review summarizes the expression of gastric cancer cell-related autophagy genes and the mechanism by which autophagy promotes gastric cancer cell death. Autophagy has an important application prospect in treating gastric cancer.