Pathological features from seventy cases of early gastric cancer (EGC) diagnosed at the Hospital de la Santa Cruz y San Pablo of Barcelona, between 1981-1990, were analyzed. Large lesions showed greater deep infiltration, and higher nodal involvement. Women had larger tumours than men. Patients with type I tumours were older. Elevated tumours (type I and IIa) were primarily of the intestinal type and rarely showed lymph node metastases. Lesions were mostly located in the antrum (68.1%). These location had lymphatic involvement more frequently than the rest. Among lesions located in the upper third of the stomach, intestinal type and polypoid pattern were common findings. Ten percent of cases had more than one carcinoma in the stomach. In contrast to the entire series, this group of patients were mostly women (71.4%) and had diffuse type of lesions (85.7%).