The mediastinum is the larger space between the left and right mediastinal pleura, and is the interval separating the left and right pleural cavities. The important organs in the mediastinum include the pericardium, heart, trachea, thoracic duct, lymphatic tissue, thymus, nerves, and nerve tissue between the mediastinal viscera. The mediastinum contains a variety of tissue germ during embryonic development. As the embryo grows, the germ tends to mature and becomes a germinal lobe, and separates from each other, and the remaining germ left in the mediastinum is an important cause of mediastinal tumors. The main types of mediastinal tumors include teratoma, thymoma, lymphoma, retrosternal goiter, neurogenic tumors, and various types of cysts. Some patients with mediastinal tumors are asymptomatic and are found by routine physical examination, while other patients have symptoms mostly related to lesion compression or invasion of surrounding tissue structures, or systemic syndrome associated with the primary tumor. The common clinical symptoms are chest pain, cough, dyspnea, weakness, and difficulty in swallowing. Depending on the nature and location of the tumor, physical examination may include fever, lymph node enlargement, wheezing, superior vena cava syndrome, vocal cord paralysis, Horner syndrome, and neurological abnormalities. Enhanced CT of the chest is an important imaging tool for mediastinal tumors, and MRI is important for determining the relationship between the lesion and large blood vessels and structures in the spinal canal. Surgical resection is the main treatment modality for mediastinal tumors. Minimally invasive surgical techniques represented by televised thoracoscopy are less invasive and have faster recovery, which occupy an increasingly important position in the treatment of mediastinal tumors. Benign mediastinal tumors and cysts can be surgically removed with good results, and many malignant mediastinal tumors can be treated surgically to obtain long-term survival. Mediastinal lymphoma and thymoma, especially aggressive thymoma, often require supplemental postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy or radiotherapy treatment after surgery to improve the cure rate and prognosis.