Objective To establish a human gastric cancer orthotopic xenograft model labeled with luciferase.Methods Luciferase labeled MGC803 cells were cloned with G418 selection ( MGC803-Luc) . MGC803-Luc cells were implanted into the stomach wall of BALB / cA-nu mice to establish the tumor-bearing mouse models. Whole-body optical imaging technique was used to monitor the growth of the implanted tumor. Results The successful rate of orthotopic transplantation was 100% . The whole-body optical imaging found that the fluorescence could be detected at 7 days after transplantation. The tumor growth became logarithmic after 21 days. However，the mean fluorescent intensity tended to decline when the tumor had apparent necrosis after 28 days. Ultrasonic imaging found a tumor on the stomach，approximately 8. 39 mm in diameter and 28. 92 mm2 in area. Conclusions It is possible to real-time monitoring the growth of human gastric cancer labeled with luciferase in animals.