Between September 1973 and December 1983, 61 patients with carcinoma of the esophagus were treated surgically at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital. Among 61 patients, male patients were 51 cases, female 10 cases and the age ranged from 21 years old to 72 years old with the average of 54.6 years old. Min symptoms of esophageal cancer were dysphagia (91.5%), weight loss (40.4%), pain(27.6%), and the average symptom duration was 3.85 months. The anatomical locations of esophageal cancer in preoperative esophagogram revealed 41.7% in middle 1/3, 8.3% in esophagograstic junction or cardia. Among 61 cases, 9 cases were managed by feeding gastrostomy due to inoperability, 8 cases by exploratory thoracotomy or lapatotomy only without curative or palliative resection, and 44 cases by curative or palliative resection with reconstruction. Among 52 cases of exploration, 44 cases were managed with curative or palliative resection of cancer and the resectability revealed 84.6% in operated cases. Among palliative or curative resected group, the esophagogastrostomy was performed in 40 cases (90.9%), esophagojejunostomy in 3 cases(6.8%), esophagectomy only in 1 case(2.3%). Postoperative complications were noticed in 12 cases, such as anastomotic leakage in 7 cases(15.6%), empyema in 2 cases (4.4%), respiratory failure in 2 cases (4.4%), anastomotic stricture in 1 case (2.2%). among 7 postoperative anastomotic leakage, 2 patients died as a result of that complication and the operative mortality revealed 4.3%. During follow-up work, the mean survival period was 19.3 months in patients who discharged hospital alive, and the 2 year survival rate was 34.6%.