Abstract: Considerable debates still exist in terms of surgical approach and extent of lymphadenectomy in esophageal cancer surgery. More importance has been attached to the concept of total mesoesophageal excision(TME) for esophageal carcinoma in recent years. TME represents an operative principle rather than a surgical approach, which could be used in various open as well as minimally invasive esophagectomies. TME is indicated in stage T1-T3 esophageal carcinoma. Combining with 2-field or 3-field lymphadenectomy, TME aims to obtain R0 resection in the surgical treatment of esophageal carcinoma. Both the surgical resection margin (especially radial margin) and the number of resected lymph nodes are important indicators to evaluate surgical quality.