Objective To investigate the clinicopathological features of early gastric cancer （EGC） with micropapillary pattern. Methods In 447 consecutive EGC patients at Changzhou No.2 People′s Hospital admitted from January 2006 to December 2016， 8 （1.8％） with micropapillary adenocarcinoma （≥5％） were enrolled in the observation group and the remaining 439 were included in the control group. Clinicopathologic features including age， gender， gross pattern， tumor location， size， invasion depth， lymphovascular invasion， lymphatic metastasis and pathological stage were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences between the two groups in age， gender， gross pattern， tumor location or size （all P＞0.05）. The observation group showed significantly more frequent submucosal invasion （100.0％， 8／8）， lymphovascular invasion （62.5％， 5／8）， lymphatic metastasis （62.5％， 5／8）， and higher pathological stage （Ⅱ+Ⅲ 25.0％， 2／8） compared with those in the control group， which were 52.4％ （230／439）， 9.1％ （40／439）， 13.9％ （61／439）， and 5.9％ （26／439）， respectively （all P＜0.05）. Conclusion EGC with micropapillary pattern is rare with a high liability to lymphovascular invasion， lymphatic metastasis， and higher pathological stage， compared to EGC without micropapillary pattern.