Abstract: Abstract: Objective To explore the quality of life in patients with gastric cancer who received stomach bare area lymphadenectomy. Methods The surgical and follow-up data of 185 cases, who had proximal radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, were collected. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether the lymph nodes in gastric bare area were removed. Group A included 95 cases who received D2 gastrectomy combined with stomach bare area lymphadenectomy. Group B included 90 cases who underwent routine D2 lymphadenectomy. The positive rate of lymph nodes in the stomach bare area, perioperative complications, incidences of adverse reactions, local recurrence rate, 5-year survival rate, and Spitzer score were recorded in different periods. Results The positive rate of lymph node of stomach bare area was as high as 66.3%. The local recurrence rate of the group A was significantly lower than that of the group B, while the 5-year survival rate was significantly higher than that of the group B. The postoperative quality of life was significantly improved in both groups, which was significantly better in the group A (P < 0.05). The total scores of the quality of life in the group A were significantly higher than those in the group B 12, 24 and 36 months after operation (P < 0.05). Conclusions Proximal radical gastrectomy with routine dissection of lymph nodes in stomach bare area can significantly improve the postoperative quality of life in patients with gastric cancer.