A 69-year-old woman was diagnosed to have type 2 advanced esophageal carcinoma measuring Im 9 cm by X-ray and endoscopic examination. CT scan revealed much swelling of No. 106 and 9 lymph nodes. As the patient had dry cough and these lymph nodes, we tried neoadjuvant chemotherapy for reduction of metastatic lymph nodes. The regimen consisted of CDDP 80 mg/m2 (day 1), 5-FU 800 mg/m2 (day 1-4, continuous). After 2 courses, an operation was performed. Histopathological examination of the section of the primary tumor revealed that only a few cancer cells nests (sq. c.c., mod.) remained in the muscle layer. In 41 dissected lymph nodes, 12 lymph nodes had metastatic cancer cell nests before neoadjuvant chemotherapy and only 4 lymph nodes had a few remaining cancer cells nests. The effect of CDDP + 5-FU therapy is the same for primary tumor and lymph nodes.