Esophageal cancer is a malignant tumor originating from the mucosal epithelial tissue of the esophagus (i.e., the innermost surface tissue of the esophagus) and accounts for 2% of malignant tumors. After years of efforts and active treatment, the overall 5-year survival rate of esophageal cancer has reached about 40%. However, it is very difficult to further improve the 5-year survival rate because it is difficult to make early diagnosis, as early symptoms are not obvious and often not emphasized by patients, thus not examined in time. In fact, the treatment effect of early esophageal cancer is very good, and the 5-year survival rate can reach 70%~80%. What is the difficulty in early diagnosis of esophageal cancer? We have seen many patients who do not feel unwell, but are unwilling to seek medical treatment due to financial, work or psychological reasons; they delay minor illnesses, suffer from major illnesses, and are sent to hospitals only when they are seriously ill. For example, an oncologist in a high prevalence area of esophageal cancer, although he had an examination when he felt that his eating was not going well, he was afraid of facing the reality and put the examination result in his desk for several months, and came to the hospital only when he had to be treated, which resulted in a delay in the treatment time. The concept of diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer should be changed. In fact, esophageal cancer is not like what people say: “Nine out of ten cancers are buried, and the remaining one is not cancer”. A large amount of clinical data proves that the treatment effect of early esophageal cancer is very ideal. The dilemma of “one hospitalization, one year’s work for nothing; one ambulance, one group of pigs for nothing” has been changed. More importantly, seeking medical treatment is not only for oneself, but also for family happiness and social harmony. Therefore, once there are symptoms, patients should seek medical treatment in time. Commonly used examination and diagnosis methods for esophageal cancer: Gastroscopy Currently, the commonly used examination and diagnosis methods in hospitals include gastroscopy, esophagography, chest CT and so on. In the past, exfoliative cytology examination has been gradually replaced by more practical gastroscopy. Early lesions are mainly manifested under the microscope as inconsistent with the surrounding tissues, which can be specifically categorized into cryptic type, vesicular type, plaque type and papillary type. Iodine staining Since esophageal cancer develops from atypical hyperplasia and it can be stained by iodine, early detection of esophageal cancer and precancerous foci can be achieved using iodine staining. Especially with esophageal ultrasound endoscopy, it is beneficial to accurately estimate the tumor condition and understand the relationship between the tumor and the surrounding tissues and organs. Esophageal imaging which is a diagnostic method by forming discontinuous and unsmooth image by the tumor blocking the contrast agent in the process of hypopharyngeal swallowing. For early esophageal cancer, mucosal image must be photographed.CT imagingCT has high reference value for observing whether the tumor infiltrates the surrounding tissues and determining the preoperative surgical plan. However, most patients seldom undergo CT examination in the early stage of the disease for economic reasons.