Cyclin D1 (CCND1) plays essential roles in cancer progression. In this study, CCND1 expression patterns in 211 cases of resected gastric adenocarcinoma (RGA) tissue were determined by immunohistochemistry, and the association between CCND1 expression levels and RGA prognosis was analyzed. RGA tissues displayed differential CCND1 expression (high expression, 52.1 %; n = 110, and low expression, 47.9 %; n = 101). CCND1 expression levels were related with median overall survival time (MST). MST in patients with high CCND1 expression was 43 months, whereas with low CCND1 expression it was 62 months (P = 0.013). When data were stratified by postoperative treatments and CCND1 expression levels, the MST for patients treated with fluoropyrimidine plus platinum (n = 140) was significantly longer than for those treated with fluoropyrimidine only (n = 71) in both high and low CCND1 expression groups (65.0 vs. 29.0 months, P = 0.041; and 74.5 vs. 33.0 months, P = 0.003, respectively). Cox multivariate analyses further confirmed that high CCND1 expression was related with poor prognosis in both treatment groups [hazard ratio (HR) 1.91, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.12-3.23; P = 0.017, and HR 2.14, 95 % CI 1.08-4.25; P = 0.029] and that fluoropyrimidine plus platinum was more effective than fluoropyrimidine only in high CCND1 (HR 0.47, 95 % CI 0.28-0.78; P = 0.004) and low CCND1 (HR 0.44; 95 % CI 0.23-0.82; P = 0.01) expression patients. Therefore, CCND1 may be used as a prognostic biomarker for patients with RGA.