Abstract: Because of the poor prognosis for patients with esophageal cancer and the risks associat-ed with surgical intervention, accurate staging is essential for optimal treatment planning.Positron emis-sion tomography(PET)with ¹⁸F-fluoro deoxy-d-glucose(FDG) is a useful adjunct to more conventional imaging modalities in this setting.¹⁸F-FDG PET is not an appropriate first-line diagnostic procedure in the detection of esophageal cancer and is not helpful in detecting local invasion by the primary tumor, and further studies are required to determine its efficacy in the detection of local nodal metastases.Howev-er, ¹⁸F-FDG PET is superior to anatomic imaging modalities in the ability to detect distant metastases.Metastases to the liver, lungs, and skeleton can readily be identified at ¹⁸F-FDG PET.In addition, ¹⁸F-FDG PET has proved valuable in determining the resectability of disease and allows scan-ning of a larger volume, which is possible with computed tomography.Recurrent disease is readily di-agnosed and differentiat-ed from scar tissue with ¹⁸F-FDG PET.In addition, ¹⁸F-FDG PET may play a valuable role in the follow-up of patients who undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy, allowing early changes in treatment for unre-sponsive tumors.The management of most patients with esophageal cancer can be improved with the use of ¹⁸F-FDG PET.