BACKGROUND The role of hepatic resection for noncolorectal gastrointestinal malignancies involving the liver is not well defined. To address this issue we studied our experience with resection of liver tumors arising from primary gastric malignancies. METHODS A retrospective study of 195 patients who underwent a total of 207 liver resections identified 12 patients with primary gastric cancer who underwent 16 resections for liver involvement. There were 10 adenocarcinomas and two leiomyosarcomas. We examined the type of hepatic surgery, the status of residual disease, and the primary histologic findings. Morbidity, mortality, and actual survival rates were recorded. RESULTS Thirty-day operative mortality was 8.3% (1 of 12). Hospital mortality was 25% (3 of 12). Operative morbidity occurred in three of nine survivors (33%). Synchronous en bloc resection (n = 3) of stomach and liver for adenocarcinoma produced two long-term survivors (no evidence of disease for 10 and 13 years). Mean survival after synchronous discontinuous resection (n = 4) was 8 months (range, 2 to 17 months). Metachronous resection for adenocarcinoma (n = 3) produced one long-term survivor (74 months), and one patient with recurrent leiomyosarcoma underwent a total of five liver resections and survived 64 months. CONCLUSIONS For adenocarcinoma, en bloc resection of contiguous liver involvement produced long-term survivors. Synchronous resection of discontinuous metastases did not. Metachronous resection of isolated disease and multiple resections of recurrent isolated disease may have value in carefully selected patients.