The peritoneal cavity is the main site of gastric cancer recurrence after curative surgery. When this recurrence occurs, patients may experience bowel obstruction, dehydration and multiple hospital admissions. The therapeutic options that may decrease the rate of peritoneal recurrence and increase five years survival are intraoperative hyperthermic chemotherapy, extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage and routine bursectomy. We herein review the oncological results of curative surgery for gastric cancer, its failure patterns and the risk factors for peritoneal recurrence. We also review the studies aiming to prevent peritoneal carcinomatosis.