The influence of clinical and tumour-related variables on long-term survival in patients with gastric carcinoma was studied in a national prospective multicentre study. A total of 532 patients underwent curative surgery with a 5-year survival rate of 40 per cent. In a Cox multivariate analysis, age, stage of disease and macroscopic appearance of tumour were the only factors that independently affected survival. The estimated probability of survival to 5 years for a 50-year-old patient with a flattened tumour type and stage I disease was 71 per cent, but 50 per cent for an 80-year-old with the same tumour type and stage. For stage II disease the rates were 56 and 32 per cent, for stage III 39 and 13 per cent and for stage IV 19 and 3 per cent, respectively. A 70-year-old patient with stage II linitis plastica tumour type had an estimated probability of 5-year survival of 20 per cent. Stage of disease was the single most important factor in determining survival. Laurén histopathological type and location of tumour, Karnofsky performance index, weight loss and type of resection had no significant effect on long-term survival.