Abstract: Objective: To investigate the role of CXC chemokine receptor- 4 (CXCR4) and CXC chemokine ligand- 12 (CXCL12) in tumorigenesis of gastric carcinoma. Methods: The expression levels of various clinicopathological markers, such as CXCR4, CXCL12, cyclin D1, and Bcl- xL, were obtained from histological specimens of 40 patients with gastric carcinoma by Western blot analysis. Results:The expression of CXCR4 and CXCL12 was significantly higher in gastric cancer than in matched normal mucosa (P<0.05). The expression of CXCR4 and CXCL12 was higher in lymph node metastases that were present in 22 of the 32 cases compared to the primary tumor. The expression level of CXCR4 and CXCL12 was related to lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Conclusion: Overexpression of CXCR4 and CXCL12 is found in primary gastric cancer and lymph node metastases. The CXCR4 signal trans-duction pathway may play an important role in lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer.