ABSTRACT
Chest?regional recurrence and metastasis are the main modes of treatment failure after surgery for patients with esophageal cancer. As one of the primary approaches for local therapy, radiotherapy has a satisfactory efficacy in the reduction of postoperative chest?regional recurrence in patients with esophageal cancer. Right now, the value of postoperative adjuvant therapy for patients with positive lymph nodes has been widely recognized by clinicians. Postoperative adjuvant chemoradiotherapy has become a standard treatment mode. However, there is no consensus on whether adjuvant radiotherapy should be performed in patients with negative lymph nodes. To determine whether patients with stage pN0 esophageal cancer should receive postoperative adjuvant therapy, this paper reviews the current research advances in possible evidence for the necessity of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy for patients with stage pN0 esophageal cancer, current related reports, and the effects of different surgical methods on treatment outcomes of postoperative adjuvant therapy.