Objective: Replication protein A1 (RPA1) is required for stabilization of single-stranded DNA at early and later stages of DNA replication being thus critical for eukaryotic DNA replication. In this study, we investigated for the first time the immunohistochemical expression of RPA1 protein in a series of 73 gastric carcinomas in relation with clinicopathological parameters (age, sex, Lauren's histologic classification, histologic grade, lymphovascular invasion, tumor size, depth of invasion (T), lymph node metastasis (N) and stage). Method: A standard immunohistochemical method and a semi-quantitative evaluation for the detection of RPA1 Labeling Index (LI) were applied. Results: Nuclear RPA1 immunoreactivity was seen in all carcinomas with a mean value of 26.5 %. Statistical significant correlations emerged between: 1. RPA1 LI and low Tcategory (p=0.009) 2. RPA1 LI and absence of lymph node metastasis (p=0,014). RPA1 LI was higher in cases without lymphovascular invasion; however this association did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: The widespread expression of RPA1 in gastric carcinomas suggests that this protein is implicated in gastric cancer growth. The observed significant associations between RPA1 LI and low T as well as N0 tumors could imply that RPA1 might offer a growth advantage in the early stages of gastric cancer progression.