OBJECTIVE:To explore the association among lifestyle,clinical examination,polymorphisms in CDH1 gene and Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)syndrome differentiation of gastric cancer(GC). METHODS:A hospital-based population of 387 GC patients was investigated in Jiangsu province.Relevant information regarding lifestyle and clinical examination were collected by a standard questionnaire.Four known single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)in CDH1 were investigated by polymerase chain reaction-ligation detection reaction methods.Statistical analysis was conducted by SPSS 16.0 software.RESULTS:The results showed that meal duration and the status of glutamic pyruvic transaminase were significantly associated with TCM syndrome differentiation of GC(both P<0.05).None of the four SNPs in the E-cadherin(CDH1)gene achieved significant differences in their distributions among the nine syndrome types of GC(both P>0.05).However,significant differences were observed in rs13689 genotype distributions between several pairs of syndrome types of GC,suggesting that rs13689 is correlated with the syndrome differentiation of GC.CONCLUSION:Integrated analysis of lifestyle,clinical examination and CDH1 gene polymorphisms can contribute to a better understanding of the GC syndrome types and may improve the efficacy of interventions by stratifying disease according to TCM criteria.