Identification of an isolated tumour cell with metastatic ability is important for predicting the recurrence and prognosis of gastric cancer. A biological marker for evaluating the metastatic ability of gastric cancer cells has not yet been identified. We assessed vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood was more highly expressed in perioperative metastasis-positive and postoperative recurrence cases than in normal control cases, early cancer cases and nonmetastatic advanced cancer cases. The peripheral blood vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA-positive group was associated with advanced clinical stage, deep invasion beyond the muscularis propria, lymphatic involvement, vascular involvement, lymph node metastasis, positive peritoneal lavage cytology, preoperative metastasis and postoperative recurrence. Flow cytometry analysis disclosed that vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 expressing cells in the peripheral blood were more abundant in cancer cases with metastases than in cases without metastases. Our data suggest that the amount of positive cells may provide information on the clinical features of gastric cancer, especially in regard to gastric cancer metastasis.