食管癌是全世界第八大高发的恶性肿瘤。外科治疗是可切除食管癌的首选治疗方法。传统食管癌切除术并发症发生率和死亡率高。为减少手术并发症、降低死亡率，微创食管切除术逐渐发展起来。微创食管切除术认为是一种安全可选择的食管癌治疗方法，目前微创食管癌切除术的研究主要为术后近期疗效及生存率，缺乏长期疗效。将微创食管切除术作为可切除食管癌的标准治疗，目前还言之过早。“,”Esophageal cancer is by now the eighth most common malignancy in the world .Esophagectomy is the mainstay treatment,but the procedure is associated with a considerable risk of complications and the high mortality rate.In an attempt to reduce complication and mortality rates progress has been made in mini-mally-invasive surgical techniques.Among the technical advances minimally invasive esophagectomy ( MIE) is a safe and feasible method.By now short-term efficacy and survival of MIE were demonstrated,however, there is no long-term data.So it′s still early to proclaim MIE as the standard management for patients with resectable esophageal cancer.