The high SNR (Signal-to-Noise) spectra from 20 cases of gastric carcinoma and normal mucosa were obtained by confocal Raman microspectroscopy. Consistent spectral features were observed at different sites of one tissue slice for both typical tissues. Raman spectra of normal gastric mucosa shows two peaks which are assigned to amide I vibration of proteins in 1640-1670(cm(-1)) spectral region. However, in gastric carcinoma, only one peak of amino I vibrational mode of proteins can be observed. The obviously different spectral characters of the two types of tissues are in accordance to clinicopathologic diagnosis. The result shows Raman spectroscopy might be a potential method in the diagnosis of gastric carcinoma.