['We retrospectively investigated prognostic factors to be used in selecting the patients with stage IV gastric cancer (GC) who have an unfavorable prognosis after palliative gastrectomy.', 'A total of 146 GC patients at stage IV who had undergone palliative gastrectomy were enrolled. Various clinicopathological parameters were evaluated for prognosis.', 'Surgical morbidity and hospital mortality occurred in 35 (23.9 %) and 4 (2.7 %) patients, respectively. The overall 5-year survival rate and the median survival time were 11.2 % and 13.2 months, respectively. Of the 146 patients, 64 had uncomfortable symptoms associated with GC and 76 had no such symptoms. Of the 64 patients with uncomfortable symptoms, 60 (93.7 %) experienced relief of these symptoms after palliative surgery. Multivariate analysis for patients without uncomfortable symptoms associated with GC revealed that the number of incurable factors and serum SPan-1 level were independent prognostic factors.'] Is sPan-1 a useful prognostic marker for patients with stage IV gastric cancer who underwent palliative gastrectomy : a retrospective multivariate study?