Abstract: Objective :To evaluate the relationship between clinicopathological features of primarygastric cancer and lymph node metastasis after total gastrectomy. Methods :The clinicopathological da-ta of 73 patients who underwent total gastrectomy and lymph node dissection for gastric cancer fromJanuary 2004 to April 2006 were analyzed retrospectively. Results :The total rate of lymph nodemetastasis was 83.6%, with 35.7% of the resected lymph nodes showing involvement. An average of29.03 regional lymph nodes was removed from each patient, and the mean number of metastatic lymphnodes was 10.44. As the tumor size, invasive depth, and the area of serosa involved increased, themetastatic rate and the number of involved lymph nodes also increased(P<0.01). There was a significantdifference in the metastatic rate and number of involved lymph nodes depending on the different typesof serosal changes, gross Borrmann's type, histology, and tumor growth patterns (P<0.01). Conclusion :In radical total gastrectomy for gastric cancer, the extent of lymph node dissection should be determinedbased on its clinicopathological features.