Recently Goseki proposed a new histological classification of gastric cancer based on intracellular mucus production and the degree of tubular differentiation. The aim of this study was to define the prognostic significance of the Goseki classifying system. For this purpose a cohort of 89 patients, who underwent potentially curative gastrectomy (RO) with lymphadenectomy greater than or equal to D2 for advanced gastric cancer from September 1988 to April 1996 was recruited. We did not find significant correlations between the different Goseki grades and depth of tumor invasion (p=0.12) or nodes metastasis (p=0.35). The cumulative 5-year survival rate was 58% in patients with Goseki I tumours, 53% with Goseki II tumours, 42% with Goseki III tumours and 56% with Goseki IV tumours and the differences were not statistically significant either in univariate (p=0.44) or in multivariate analysis (p=0.71) by Cox model.