In the current study, we compared the differential expression profiles of genes affected by endocrine disruptor in gastric carcinomas of the young and old using cDNA microarray. Five gastric carcinoma tissues of young patients (< or =35 years) were compared with 5 disease-free gastric tissues of age-matched healthy young people (experiment 1) and 5 gastric carcinoma tissues of old patients (> or =65 years) (experiment 2), respectively. We hybridized the tissues with IntelliGene Human DNA Chip for endocrine disruption study, and identified finally the results common to the two experiments. Of the 220 genes represented on the array, 6 genes were up-regulated and 3 genes were down-regulated in the gastric carcinomas of young patients compared with those of old patients and those of the young volunteers. In conclusion, the genes affected by endocrine disruptors were differently expressed in young-age gastric carcinoma versus the old-age gastric carcinoma. So, we suggest that the gastric carcinoma in the young is the result of a genetic background that differs from that of the old and endocrine disruptors may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of gastric carcinoma in the young.