OBJECTIVE To understand the characteristics of celiac trunk lymph-node metastases of thoracic esophageal carcinoma and their influence on prognosis of the patients, and to investigate a reasonable range for regional celiac trunk lymph-node clearance.METHODS Clinical specimens of 241 patients receiving resection of a thoracic esophageal carcinoma were analyzed retrospectively.RESULTS The rate of the patient celiac lymph-node metastases was 32.4%(78/241), and of the lymph nodes examined, 9.8% were found to have metastasis. The extent of metastases adjacent to the common hepatic artery and celiac trunk and within the hepatoduodenal ligaments was 6.6%, 6.9% and 6.3%, respectively. The tumor site, extent of invasion and level of cell differentiation were the factors influencing lymph-node metastases, but they were unrelated to the length of the tumor. The overall rate of regional celiac recurrence for the patients 3 years after operation was 5.4%. The 3-year survivals for the patients with metastases of the celiac lymph nodes was 42.3%, which was lower compared to the non-metastatic patients (70.6%) (P＜0.01).CONCLUSION Celiac lymph-node metastases are one of key factors affecting the prognosis of the patients receiving resection of esophageal cancer, and extensive clearance of the celiac-trunk lymph nodes can reduce the rate of postoperative regional metastases.