AIM:To evaluate the tumor-positive ratio and number ofperigastric lymph nodes as prognostic factors of gastriccarcinoma in surgically-treated patients.METHODS:The postoperative survival of 169 patients withgastric cancer who were performed D_2 curative gastrectomywas analyzed with regard to its lymph node metastasis ratioand number.Meanwhile correlation of tumor-positive ratioand number of perigastric lymph nodes with pathologicalparameters of these patients was studied.RESULTS:The overall 5-year survival rate of all the patientsstudied was 29.6%.The 5-year cumulative survival rate inpatients with 1%-20% and more than 20% of tumor-positivelymph nodes was 70.6% and 12.0% respectively,and 46.6%and 17.4% in those with 1-5 and more than 5 of tumor-positive lymph nodes respectively,which were significantlydecreased with the increment of involved lymph nodesassessed by either numbers or ratio (P<0.05).Multiplestepwise regression analysis showed that both the positiveratio and number of tumor-involved lymph nodes weresensitive prognostic factors in these surgically-treatedpatients,which were also significantly correlated with tumorsize and depth of submucosal invasion (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Tumor-positive ratio and number of perigastriclymph nodes are associated with cancer progression andfive-year survival rate,and may serve as valuable prognosticfactors of gastric cancer in surgically-treated patients. AIM: To evaluate the tumor-positive ratio and number of perigastric lymph nodes as prognostic factors of gastric cancer in surgically-treated patients. METHHODS: The postoperative survival of 169 patients with gastric cancer who were performed D_2 curative gastrectomy was analyzed with regard to its lymph node metastasis ratio and number.Meanwhile correlation of tumor-positive ratio and number of perigastric lymph nodes with pathological parameters of these patients was studied.RESULTS: The overall 5-year survival rate of all the patients had been 29.6%. The 5-year cumulative survival rate in patients with 1% -20% and more than 20% of tumor-positivelymph nodes were 70.6% and 12.0% respectively, and 46.6% and 17.4% in those with 1-5 and more than 5 of tumor-positive lymph nodes were, which were significantly decreased with the increment of involved lymph nodes assessed by either numbers or ratio (P <0.05). Multiplestepwise regression analysis showed that both the positive correlation and number of tumors -involved lymph nodes were positive prognostic factors in these surgically-treated patients, which were also significantly correlated with tumorsize and depth of submucosal invasion (P <0.05) .CONCLUSION: Tumor-positive ratio and number of perigastriclymph nodes are associated with cancer progression and last-year survival rate, and may serve as valuable prognostic factors of gastric cancer in surgically-treated patients.