Fig. 1

Initial medical examinations before treatment. A Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) image. A full circumferential type 3 tumor was detected in the upper thoracic esophagus. The scope was impassable. B Contrast-enhanced CT. A lumen-filling tumor with invasion of the tracheal bifurcation in the thoracic esophagus was shown. C Bronchoscopy. Partial tumor exposure near the tracheal bifurcation was indicated. D FDG PET-CT. There was an abnormal accumulation over a wide area of the thoracic esophagus, which was united with lymph nodes. There were no obvious distant metastases