外科治疗食管癌是目前首选的治疗手段，但由于存在以下几种情况：（１）食管是跨越颈胸腹的非成对器官，食管淋巴引流特别是纵隔的淋巴网纵横交叉，上到颈部，下至腹腔，加之食管黏膜下层侧支淋巴管穿肌层达外膜，由此造成了食管癌淋巴转移的复杂性及不可预测性；（２）食管黏 Surgical treatment of esophageal cancer is currently the preferred treatment, but due to the following situations: (1) The esophagus is a non-paired organ that spans the neck and abdomen. The lymphatic drainage of the esophagus, especially the lymph nodes of the mediastinum, crosses and crosses up to the neck. , Down to the abdominal cavity, plus the esophageal submucosal collateral lymphatic vessels through the outer membrane, resulting in the complexity and unpredictability of lymphatic metastasis of esophageal cancer; (2) esophageal sticky