Abstract: Objective To improve the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer in young people by studying its clinical and pathological characteristics. Methods Clinical data about 79 gastric cancer patients with their age≤35 years admitted to our hospital from 2002 to 2012 were retrospectively analyzed and compared with those about 100 gastric cancer patients with their age ＞35 years. Results The 79 gastric cancer patients with their age≤35 years accounted for 2.2% of the total hospitalized gastric cancer patients（79/3 590） during the study period.The gender,and the cancer location,endoscopic classification,clinical stage,and histological type were significant different between the two groups.The male/ female ratio was 1.1∶1.The tumor occurred most often in gastric antrum.Ulcerated infiltrating type was most common according to Bormann classification with stage Ⅳ accounted for 68.4%（54/79） and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma was most common according to its pathological typing. Conclusion The malignancy of gastric cancer is rather high in young people and its early diagnosis is of great importance.