Abstract： Objective To explore the value of dynamic subtraction technique of magnetic resonance imaging MRI in preoperative TNM-staging assessment of gastric carcinoma. Methods MRI was performed in 39 patients with gastric carcinoma diagnosed by postoperative pathology.The results of MRI were prospectively analyzed by one professor and compared with the corresponding pathological findings. Results In comparison with pathological results, the accuracy of MRI for T stage was 82.1%, for N stage was 71.8%, and for M stage was 84.6% respectively. The accuracy of MRI for TNM stage was 71.8%, which revealed concordance between the preoperative TNM-staging and postoperative pathological findings (Kappa=0.671-0.763, P<0.05). Conclusion MRI plays an important role in the assessment of invasion depth of gastric carcinoma, lymph node and distant organ metastases, which has unique priority in preoperative TNM-staging assessment of gastric carcinoma.