Objective       To study the expression of legumain in gastric cancer patients and its prognostic significance.       Methods          Legumain expression was tested with immunohistochemical staining in 50 cases of gastric cancer tissues and 50 corresponding normal tissues on tissue chips and in 210 cases of gastric cancer patients (including 140 male and 70 female with mean age of 65 years

which were treated in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from September 2007 to June 2011). T

he correlation between legumain expression and various clinical parameters was evaluated. Both the univariate and multivariate survival analysis were performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of legumain expression and all the clinical parameters.       Results          On the tissue chips

29 (58%) of 50 gastric cancer tissues and only 16 (32%) of 50 corresponding normal tissues showed legumain overexpression

with statistical difference (

P

0.05). Legumain overexpression was also observed in 124 (59%) of 210 gastric cancer patients. High expression of legumain was correlated with various clinical parameters. Patients with legumain overexpression (

P

0.01)

high level of MMP-9 (

P

0.05)

distant metastasis (

P

0.01) and poor tumor differentiation (

P

0.01) resulted in bad prognosis.       Conclusion        Legumain is overexpressed in gastric cancer tissues compared with corresponding normal tissues. Gastric cancer patients with higher expression of legumain have a lower survival rate. Legumain overexpression is an independent risk factor for clinical prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Legumain may affect the survival rate of gastric cancer patients via increase the level of MMP-9 and tumor metastasis.