Objective To study the expression of suppressor gene PTEN in gastric cancer tissues and its relationship with tumor biologic characteristics. Methods Using EnVision immunohistochemical methods, we examined the suppressor gene PTEN expression in 116 cases of gastric cancer, 35 cases dysplasia and 56 cases normal gastric mucosa specimens. Results The positive rate of PTEN (53.4 %, 62/116) was lower in gastric cancer tissue than in dysplasia (71.4 %, 25/35) and normal gastric mucosa specimens(100 %, 56/56) (P