Recently, we successfully resected a case of giant benign esophageal tumor in the cervical and thoracic segments using a median sternal incision. The patient was a 49-year-old female who was admitted to the hospital with intermittent swallowing obstruction for 4 months. Thoracic CT and gastroscopy diagnosed a benign esophageal tumor, measuring about 11.1 cm × 5.5 cm × 5.2 cm, with significant tracheal compression (Figure 1). Because the tumor was large and crossed the cervicothoracic esophagus, it was difficult to be removed by traditional surgical incisions. We decided to use a median sternal splitting incision to resect the tumor, and Associate Professor Jinghai Zhou was in charge of the main incision. During the operation, we saw that the esophageal tumor originated from the left side of the neck, crossed the entrance of the thorax and extended to the level of the tracheal bifurcation, which was closely related to the large blood vessels of the heart. The pericardium was dissected, the large cardiac vessels were freed, and the left saphenous vein and cephalic arterial trunk were tracted upward, the superior vena cava was tracted to the right, and the aortic arch was tracted to the left. The esophageal tumor was revealed, and the esophageal muscle layer was incised and the tumor was removed completely (Figure 2). The operation went well, and the postoperative pathology suggested: esophageal nerve sheath tumor. After surgery, the patient’s symptoms were significantly relieved and he resumed normal diet. Benign esophageal tumors are rare, mostly esophageal smooth muscle tumors, and nerve sheath meningiomas are rare. In this case, a median sternal incision was used to remove a huge benign esophageal tumor in the cervical thorax, which has not been reported at home and abroad, providing a new surgical route for the surgical treatment of esophageal tumor.