Objective:To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of D2 lymphadenectomy and D3 lymphadenectomy in the treatment of gastric cancer. Methods:PubMed,Cochrane Library,Chinese biomedicine literature database,Chinese journal full-text database and Chinese scientific journal full-text database were searched to identify randomized controlled trials(RCTs) comparing D2 with D3 lym-phadenectomy for gastric cancer. We also hand-searched related key Chinese journals to identify potential studies. Quality of the included studies was assessed and Meta analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. Results:Six RCTs were included. Meta analysis showed that there was no significant difference between D2 group and D3 group in terms of postoperative mortality(odds ratio(OR)=1.01,95%confidence interval(95%CI)=0.44 to 2.32),incidence of overall postoperative complications(OR=1.53,95%CI=0.81 to 2.89),five-year overall survival rate(OR=1.08,95%CI=0.81 to 1.44) and recurrence rate(OR=0.89,95%CI=0.67 to 1.81)(P=0.980,0.190,0.590,0.410). D3 group had higher incidence of postoperative lymphatic fistula(OR=0.66,95%CI=0.01 to 0.50)and in-tractable diarrhea(OR=0.11,95%CI=0.01 to 0.90),but D2 group had higher pulmonary infection rate(OR=3.71,95%CI=1.43 to 9.61) when doing comparison with statistical differences(P=0.009,0.040,0.007). No difference was found between two groups regarding incidence of anastomotic leakage,pancreatic fistula,abdominal abscess,upper gastrointestinal bleeding,wound infection,reoperation rate and intestinal obstruction(P=0.240,0.500,0.080,0.400,0.710,0.570,0.960). D3 group had longer operation time(weighted mean difference(WMD)=-154.86,95%CI=1.04 to 4.18) and more intraoperative blood loss voulme(WMD=301 ml,95%CI=151.55 to 450.45) compared with those of D2 group(P=0.008,0.000). No statistically significant difference was existed in mean intraoperative blood transfusion volume(WMD=-138.47 ml,95%CI=-379.96 to -103.01) and hospitalization time(WMD=1.77 d,95%CI=-1.65 to 5.15)between groups(P=0.31,0.26). Conclusions:Current evidence suggests that D3 lymphadenectomy has no survival advantage and has higher operation risk when compared with D2 lym-phadenectomy,therefore is not recommend for routine use.