Abstract: As a high risk region of esophageal cancer in the world, China has gained superior achievements in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer. Although China has made great progress in the field of clinical research on esophageal cancer in recent years, there was still a big gap between Chinese and international levels. This article reviews the progress of clinical research on lymph node dissection of esophageal cancer, and gives some options for clinical research direction of esophageal cancer.