The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of lymph node involvement (LNI) as an independent factor on survival of patients who underwent a resection with curative intent. Out of 156 patients operated on, 86 had a resection with curative intent. Multivariate analysis (Cox model) selected LNI as the only independent factor by stepwise analysis. The overall 5-year survival in patients without LNI was 75 ± 8%, with proximal LNI 28 ± 10% and with distal LNI 7 ± 6%. Although the number of patients included in this study was small, its results were validated on sets of patients from other series. We can therefore recommend these three stages of LNI as a reliable prognostic index in patients with gastric carcinoma undergoing a resection with curative intent.