CT is a valuable method for preoperative staging of patients with stomach cancers. However in patients with poor distension of the stomach and scanty fat between the stomach and adjacent organs CT findings may in-dicatea false impression of gastric wall thickening and cannot provide the precise extent of stomach cancer. We studied the usefulness of gastric distension by gas-forming agent in 28 cases of pathologically confirmed gastric cancers on CT. Comparitive analysis between CT findings and surgical pathologic findings was done in 22 cases who under-went surgery. The results were as follows : 1. Conventional CT failed to define the wall thickening or masses of the stomach in 14 cases of 23 advanced gastric cancers while CT with gas distension technique allowed good visualization in all advanced gastric cancers. 2. In 2 cases of 5 early gastric cancers CT with gas distension technique could detect focal thickening of the gastric wall even less than 1cm thickness. 3. Among 13 cases with indistinguishable border between stomach and pancreas on conventional CT 3 cases were diagnosed as negative invasion on CT with gas distension technique all of which were confirmed by surgery. 5. There was no significant difference between conventional CT and CT with gas distension technique of the stomach to diagnose invasion into transverse colon transverse mesocolon lymph node metastasis and various distant metastasis. Our experience suggests that CT with gas distension technique should be a reliable method indetermining tumor localization and direct invasion into adjacent structures such as liver and pancreas.