OBJECTIVE： To provide reference for the design of TCM formula for gastric cancer （GC） and new drug research and development. METHODS： Retrieved from Chinese Pharmacopeia （part Ⅰ） （2015 edition）， Chinese Materia Medica （4th edition）， PubMed， CNKI， VIP and other databases， plant-based TCM for GC， antineoplastic mechanism， property， taste， channel tropism and influential factors of intestinal microecology were mined and summarized. The plant-based TCM formula for GC was designed according to tumor staging. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS： It was clear that there were 85 kinds of plant-based TCM for anti-GC activity. The main anti-tumor mechanisms were inhibiting proliferation/growth， regulating immunity， inducing apoptosis and inhibiting invasion/metastasis， with the abundance of 0.741， 0.718， 0.447 and 0.271， respectively. The main properties of TCM were cold， warm and flat， with the abundance of 0.424， 0.282 and 0.200， respectively. The main tastes of TCM were bitter， sweet and spicy， with the abundance of 0.612， 0.518， 0.271， respectively. The main channel tropisms were liver， lung， kidney and spleen， with the abundance of 0.553， 0.424， 0.376， 0.365， respectively. Main types involved were Pseudostellaria heterophylla， Elaeagnus pungens， Panax ginseng， Scutellaria baicalensis， Coptis chinensis， Hedyotis diffusa， Valeriana officinalis， etc. The application of microecological preparation， the improvement of eating habits， the reduction of toxic stress， the application of TCM for nourishing deficiency， clearing away heat and helping to digest （Codonoposis radix， Dioscoreae rhizome， Rehmannia glutinosa， Taraxacum mongolicum， Crataegus pinnatifida， etc.） had beneficial effects on the balance of intestinal microecology. The formula was designed according to the rules of “target regulation+overall regulation+regulation of intestinal microecology”. For early GC， it is suitable to mainly inhibit proliferation/growth， and choose plant-based TCM with cold property， spicy and sweet taste， acting on liver and heart channel. For medium-term GC， it is suitable to mainly inhibit invasion/metastasis， and choose plant-based TCM with flat， cold and warm property， sweet， bitter and spicy taste， acting on stomach， spleen， liver and lung channel. For advanced GC， it is suitable to mainly regulate immunity and induce apoptosis， and choose plant-based TCM with warm and flat property， bitter， sweet and sour taste， acting on kidney， lung， spleen and stomach channel. Additionally plant-based TCM with regulation of intestinal microecology is used and individual formula based on TCM syndrome differentiation and patient’s condition is adopted so as to give full play to therapeutic effect on GC.