The clinicopathological profiles of 419 patients with asymptomatic gastric cancer (AGC) first detected by gastric screening, were reviewed and compared with those of the 1727 patients with symptomatic gastric cancer (SGC). The incidence of AGC increased gradually and has amounted to 30% of the total resected cases in recent years. About 75% of AGC cases were of early cancer and 84% were negative for lymph node metastases. In contrast, only 33% of SGC cases were of early cancer and 57% were node positive. Curative resection was done in 97% of AGC and 75% of SGC. The cumulative 5 and 10 year survival rates of patients with curatively resected AGC were 85.2% and 72.2%, respectively, while those for patients with SGC were 66.8% and 55.4%. These data demonstrated that most patients with asymptomatic gastric cancers could expect a curative resection, i.e. have a better clinical outcome, than those with symptomatic cancer.