Surgical treatment is the most important means in the treatment of esophageal cancer and is the preferred and most effective treatment for esophageal cancer. Surgery can significantly prolong life or even long-term survival; at the same time, it can remove tumor, lift feeding obstruction, restore normal diet and improve life quality. The 5-year survival rate after surgery for early stage esophageal cancer can reach 70%-90%. 1.What are the treatment methods for esophageal cancer? At present, the effective treatment methods for esophageal cancer mainly include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Which treatment method is appropriate for a certain patient needs to be selected according to the condition and physical status of the patient, that is, it needs to be strictly evaluated by professional physicians to ensure the selected treatment method is effective and safe. (1) Surgery: It is the preferred treatment method for esophageal cancer and is recognized as the most effective and commonly used treatment method worldwide. By completely removing the tumor and completely and systematically clearing the lymph nodes through surgery, the tumor can be radically removed from the body, thus significantly prolonging life; not only that, surgery can also solve the patient’s feeding obstruction by reconstructing the digestive tract, restoring a normal diet and living a normal life. (2) Radiotherapy: It is an adjuvant treatment for esophageal cancer. It is a method of using high-energy X-rays or other rays to kill tumor cells. (3) Chemotherapy: also belongs to the common adjuvant treatment for esophageal cancer, which is the application of chemotherapy drugs to kill tumor cells or inhibit the growth of tumor cells. 2.Which esophageal cancer patients are suitable for surgical treatment? With the rapid development of surgical technology, most of the esophageal cancer patients can be treated surgically. However, before surgery, they must be strictly evaluated by professional thoracic surgeons. The evaluation includes: whether surgery is the best treatment method, that is, whether surgery has any value; how to complete the surgery and which plan is the most suitable; where are the risks of surgery and how to prevent them, etc. 3.What is included in esophageal cancer surgery and how is it done? Esophageal cancer surgery is a complicated surgery, which includes 3 aspects: complete removal of diseased esophagus; complete clearance of lymph nodes; reconstruction of digestive tract, the most common way is to anastomose the stomach to the chest cavity and healthy esophagus. The first 2 items ensure the radical resection of the tumor, which is the fundamental guarantee to prolong life. If the resection is not complete or the lymph nodes are not cleared enough, the surgical efficacy and survival will be seriously impaired, so the patient should receive surgical treatment by experienced specialist physicians. 4.The advantages of our surgical treatment for esophageal cancer Our department is a national esophageal cancer clinical treatment and research sub-center, where a large number of patients with esophageal cancer receive standardized and effective surgical treatment every year, which is at the leading level in China. (1) We strictly follow the most advanced international standards to completely remove the tumor and systematically clear the lymph nodes to ensure patients’ surgical efficacy; (2) Esophageal cancer surgery must be accompanied by reconstruction of the digestive tract to remove the pre-surgical feeding obstruction and restore normal diet, and the most common way is to anastomose the stomach from the abdominal cavity up into the chest cavity with the healthy esophagus. We routinely create a tubular stomach when reconstructing the GI tract, which minimizes the interference of the thoracic stomach with the physiology of the thoracic cavity and significantly improves the patient’s post-surgical quality of life. (3) Traditional esophageal cancer surgery requires open chest, open abdomen or even open neck, which is highly traumatic and slow to recover. In contrast, we commonly use advanced minimally invasive techniques for esophageal cancer patients, which do not open the chest and abdomen, and completely perform complete tumor resection, systematic lymph node dissection and safe esophagogastric anastomosis under thoracic and laparoscopic minimally invasive techniques. (4) We strictly evaluate and accurately stage each patient undergoing esophageal cancer surgery, and in addition to providing patients with effective surgical treatment, we will also develop effective post-surgical adjuvant treatment plans for each patient’s different conditions. (5) Each patient who receives surgical treatment from us has detailed archived information, and we will provide regular post-surgical rehabilitation guidance and long-term follow-up services for patients. (6) All patients operated by us can go to our website at any time to read articles about esophageal cancer, consult and communicate. Website: 5.New way of treating esophageal cancer-minimally invasive surgery Minimally invasive esophageal cancer surgery is a new type of surgery carried out in recent years, which can not only remove the tumor completely, systematically clear the lymph nodes and reconstruct the digestive tract like traditional surgery, but also significantly reduce trauma, with obvious advantages such as light pain, quick recovery and beautiful incision, while the curative effect is the same as traditional surgery.