ObjectiveTo explore the association between dietary retinol intake and prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. MethodsThe study enrolled 388 cases with primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma that was pathologically diagnosed in the first affiliated hospital of Fujian medical university and the cancer hospital of Fujian medical university from July 2014 to August 2019. Chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between retinol and patients' characteristics. Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test was used to analyze the relationship between retinol and multiple nutrients. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to explore the association between dietary retinol and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. ResultsPatients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma did not significantly differ in gender， age， TNM stage， tumor length or nutrient intake by different retinol intakes （P>0.05）. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the high retinol intake group had a better prognosis （overal survial：HR=0.279，95%CI：0.150‒0.520，P<0.001；disease-free survival：HR=0.306，95%CI：0.181‒0.516，P<0.001）. ConclusionHigh dietary retinol intake may improve the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.