Objective To determine the treatment outcome and prognosis after resection of esophageal cancer.Methods 312 patients who developed recurrence after curative resection for squamous cell cancer of the thoracic esophagus were analyzed retrospectively.Results Recurrence was found after a mean period of 17.8 months(range 2～56 months).Recurrence pattern was catagorized into lymphatic,hematogerous,mixed and anastomotic.The number of patients in each recurrence group was 188,42,60,22.312 patients were enveloped into a noadjuant treatment group(NT,68),a radiotherapy alone group(RT,110),a chemotherapt group(CT,72) and a radiotherapy combined chemothepapy(CRT+CT,32).The 0.5-,1-,2-and 3-year overall survival rates for NT were 63.5%,35.2%,16.3% and 13.1%;For CT were 65.7%,52.3%,11.9% and 9.2%;For RT were 75.6%,49.2%,32.2% and 14.2%,respectively.Compared with CT there were significant differences in survival for patients receiving RT alone or combined with CT(P0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that depth of tumor invasion,lymph node metastasis,operative procedure and different regimens of therapy were significant prognostic factors.Conclusion Esophagectomy with cervical anastomasis is recommened for esophageal carcinoma,additional cervical lymphadenectomy is benefical in a few patients.Radiotherapy or combined with chemotherapy to be effective in prolonging the survival of patietns with recurrenes after esophageal resection for cancer.Investigation for more effective drugs and regimens of chemotherapy need to be taken.