OBJECTIVE: To determine if the morbidity and postoperative mortality after a full gastrectomy for gastric cancer performed on patients of more than 70 years of age were different from those of younger patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 1980 and 1999, a total of 411 gastrectomies for gastric adenocarcinoma were performed at the Institute of Cancer Diseases (INEN). Of these, 87 were inpatients older than 70 years of age (elderly group) and 92 were inpatients between 50 and 59 years of age (young group). The clinical record of both groups were studied and the clinical-pathological features, morbidity and postoperative mortality, staying time in hospital and survival rate were compared. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding clinical-pathological features except in the TNM stage. In the elderly group 23.0% had stage IV and 43.5% in the young group (p=0.007). The average operating time in the elderly group was shorter than in the young group (5.5 hours versus 6.0 hours, p=0.015). The morbidity for the elderly group was 29.9% and that of the young group was 34.8%, whereas the postoperative mortality for the elderly and young groups was 4.6% and 2.2%, respectively. Pneumonia was the most frequent postoperative complication (14.8%) and the primary cause of postoperative death in the elderly group. Time in hospital and survival were similar between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The morbidity and postoperative mortality after a full gastrectomy for cancer of the stomach in the elderly is no different from those found in younger patients.