Abstract: Objective: To investigate characteristics of celiac trunk lymph-node metastases of thoracic esophageal carcinoma and cardiac cancer and their influence on the prognosis, and to investigate a reason-able range for regional celiac trunk lymph-node clearance. Methods:Specimens from 836 patients treated with resection of thoracic esophageal carcinoma and cardiac cancer were retrospectively analyzed.Results: The rate of celiac lymph-node metastasis was 60.3% (502 /836 ). Of the lymph nodes detected, 16.8% were found with metastasis. The extent of metastasis adjacent to the common hepatic artery and celiac trunk and within the hepatoduodenal ligaments was 10.8%,10.1% and 9.8%, respectively. The overall rate of regional celiac recurrence at 3 years after surgery was 6.1% . The3-year survival for patients with metastases in the celiac lymph nodes was 44.6%, lower than that in non-metastatic patients (72.4%) (P<0.05). Conclusion:Celi -ac lymph-node metastasis is one of key factors affecting the prognosis of patients treated with resection of esophageal cancer and cardiac cancer. Extensive clearance of the celiac-trunk lymph nodes can reduce the rate of postoperative regional metastasis.