Development of high-stability and efficient nonviral vectors with low cytoxicity is important for targeted tumor gene therapy. In this study, cationic polymeric liposomes (CPLs), with similar lipid bilayer structure and high thermal stability, were prepared from polymeric surfactants of quaternized (carboxymethyl)chitosan with different carbon chains (dodecyl, tetradecyl, hexadecyl, and octadecyl). By comparing different factors that influence gene delivery, tetradecyl-quaternized (carboxymethy)chitosan (TQCMC) CPLs, with suitable size (184.4 +/- 17.1 nm), zeta potentials (27.5 +/- 4.9 mV), and productivity for synthesis TQCMC (weight yield 13.1%), were selected for gene transfection evaluation in various cancer cell lines. Although TQCMC CPLs have lower gene transfection efficiency compared with cationic liposomes (Lipofectamine 2000) in vitro, they displayed higher reporter gene delivery ability for cancer tissues (bearing U87 and SMMC-7721 tumors) in vivo after intravenous injection. TQCMC CPLs also have lower cell cytotoxicity and lower cytokine production or liver injury for BALB/c mice. We conclude that the CPLs are promising gene delivery systems that may be used to target various cancers.