A retrospective analysis of 321 gastric cancer patients was made to assess the prognostic value of TNM classification, tumour differentiation, Laurén classification, proliferative rate, inflammatory reaction and tumour invasion in vascular or neural structures of the gastric wall. The TNM classification showed the strongest correlation with survival in univariate and multivariate analyses (P < 0.0001). The invasion in lymphatic or vascular system and Laurén classification were also independent prognosticators in multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). In univariate analysis, the WHO-grade, the size and the location of the tumour and perinueral invasion were significant prognostic factors (P < 0.01), as were the infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells in the tumour (P < 0.05). On the other hand, the mitotic indices reflecting the proliferative activity of the tumour cells showed no significant correlation with the prognosis. The results indicate that the prognostic power of the TNM classification can be further increased by assessment of the above special histological features in gastric cancer.