Objective To analyze the relationship between Glasgow prognostic score （GPS）， liver metastasis， and prognosis of rectal caner. Methods Clinical data of 223 patients with rectal cancer who underwent operation in Chinese PLA General Hospital from Jun. 2005 to Dec. 2011 were retrospectively analyzed， and the relationship between preoperative GPS score， liver metastasis， and prognosis of rectal cancer were analyzed. Results Preoperative GPS score of patients with rectal cancer was related to invasion depth （P＜0.001）， vascular or lymphatic invasion （P＜0.001）， liver metastasis （P＜0.001）， TNM stage （P＜0.001）， levels of carcinoembryonic antigen （P=0.009）， levels of CA19-9（P＜0.001）， and levels of CA724 （P＜0.001）. Multivariate analysis results revealed that differentiation of tumor （poorly：OR=10.688）， vascular or lymphatic invasion （OR=4.918）， lymph node metastasis （OR=3.359）， and preoperative GPS score （score 2：OR=15.907） were related to liver metastasis；age （RR=2.121）， differentiation of tumor （poorly：RR=2.846）， invasion depth （RR=1.754）， TNM stage （stageⅡ：RR=7.447， stageⅢ：RR=9.030， stage Ⅳ：RR=13.325）， and preoperative GPS score （score 2：RR=2.471） were the independently prognostic factors of rectal cancer. The preo- perative GPS score were related with both liver metastasis and prognosis of rectal cancer. Conclusion Preoperative GPS score is associated with liver metastasis of rectal cancer， and it is considered to be a useful predictor of postoperative prognosis in rectal cancer.