Abstract: Esophageal cancer (EC) has high morbidity and mortality, which seriously threatens human health. The histological subtypes of EC are closely related to region and race. Squamous EC is the most common histological type in China. Although the treatment and prognosis differ according to pathological type, the overall survival of EC patients is not satisfactory. In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), represented by agents targeting programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1), have yielded encouraging results in patients with refractory EC. ICI has shown good anti-tumor activity against advanced EC, and some ICIs have already been recommended for posterior line therapy in guidelines. At the same time, clinical trials have tried to investigate whether ICIs could be used as first-line treatment with or without other treatments. Herein, we review the progress in ICIs treatment for EC.