ObjectiveTo observe the infection status of Helicobacter pylori(HP) in gastric cancer patients and to explore its relationship with the clinical characteristics of gastric cancer. MethodsParaffin sections of surgical specimens from 794 patients who underwent gastrectomy in Changzheng Hosptial or Changhai Hosptial were detected with the modified Giemsa staining to identify the status of HP infection. The association of HP infection status with the clinicopathological features was analyzed by Chi-square test. The relationship between HP infection status and prognosis of gastric patients was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and proportional hazard regression model. ResultsHP infection was significantly associated with Lauren classification, differentiation degree, and lymph-node metastases of gastric cancer (P<0.05). The median survival time of the HP positive patients (68.5 months) was significantly longer than that of HP negative patients (36.4 months) (P=0.003). For patients undergoing curative surgeries, those with HP infection had a better prognosis compared with those without HP infection (P=0.034). For patients with intestinal-type gastric cancer, those without HP infection had a poorer prognosis compared with those with HP infection (P=0.006); there were no differences in patients with diffuse-type gastric cancer (P=0.922). ConclusionOur results indicate that HP infection status is not an independent factor for prognosis of gastric cancer patients. HP positive patients with intestinal-type gastric cancer may have a better prognosis.