食管癌（EC）是全球最常见的恶性肿瘤之一。尽管治疗方法已有所进展，EC的5年生存率仍然令人堪忧。对于可切除疾病患者而言，与食管切除术同时进行的新辅助化疗放疗是标准治疗。然而，病理学完全缓解率并不令人满意。约有一半患者会出现远处转移或局部复发。为了提高治疗的临床效果，有必要研究前沿且有效的治疗方法。免疫检查点抑制剂已经显著改变了可切除EC患者的免疫治疗方法。根据不断增多的临床数据，全身免疫治疗近期显示出提高可切除EC患者生存率的潜力。根据越来越多的证据，化疗、放疗和免疫治疗的联合可能具有协同的抗肿瘤作用，因为这些治疗可以通过多种途径刺激免疫系统。鉴于此，考虑新辅助免疫治疗对于可手术治疗的EC患者的价值是有意义的。在本综述中，我们明确了对于可切除EC患者的新辅助免疫治疗的合理性，回顾了这些方法的临床结果，介绍了即将进行和正在进行的研究，并强调存在的困难和尚未满足的研究需求。©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.

One of the most prevalent malignancies in the world is esophageal cancer (EC). The 5-year survival rate of EC remains pitiful despite treatment advancements. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in conjunction with esophagectomy is the standard of care for patients with resectable disease. The pathological complete response rate, however, is not acceptable. A distant metastasis or a locoregional recurrence will occur in about half of the patients. To increase the clinical effectiveness of therapy, it is consequently vital to investigate cutting-edge and potent therapeutic modalities. The approach to the management of resectable EC using immunotherapy has been considerably altered by immune checkpoint inhibitors. Systemic immunotherapy has recently been shown to have the potential to increase the survival of patients with resectable EC, according to growing clinical data. A combination of chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy may have a synergistic antitumor impact because, according to mounting evidence, these treatments can stimulate the immune system via a number of different pathways. In light of this, it makes sense to consider the value of neoadjuvant immunotherapy for patients with surgically treatable EC. In this review, we clarify the rationale for neoadjuvant immunotherapy in resectable EC patients, recap the clinical outcomes of these approaches, go through the upcoming and ongoing investigations, and emphasize the difficulties and unmet research requirements.©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.