The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the survival impact of perioperative chemotherapy (PCT) in patients with gastric signet ring cell (SRC) adenocarcinoma. PCT is a standard treatment for advanced resectable gastric adenocarcinoma (GA). SRC has a worse prognosis compared to non-SRC and the chemosensitivity of SRC is uncertain. Among 3010 patients registered in 19 French centers between January 1997 and January 2010, 1050 (34.9%) were diagnosed with SRC. Of those treated with curative intent (n = 924), 171 (18.5%) received PCT with surgery (PCT group), whereas 753 (81.5%) were treated with primary surgery (S group). PCT was based mainly on a fluorouracil-platinum doublet or triplet regimen. The groups were comparable regarding age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, malnutrition, tumor location and cTNM stage. 60 patients did not undergo resection because of tumor progression (10) or metastases (50) found at operation. The R0 resection rates were 65.9% and 62.3% in the S and PCT groups, respectively (P = 0.308). Fewer patients received adjuvant chemotherapy in the S group than in the PCT group (35.2% vs. 66.5%, P < 0.001). At a median follow-up of 31.5 months, the median survival was shorter in the PCT group (12.8 vs. 14.0 months, P = 0.043). On multivariate analysis, PCT was found to be an independent predictor of poor survival (HR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.9, P = 0.042). PCT provides no survival benefit in patients with gastric SRC. Clinical Trial.gov record: ADCI001, Clinical Trial.gov identifier NCT01249859.