Advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (SCCE) is usually a disease of dismal prognosis. Palliation of dysphagia is the main goal of its treatment. This trial compared surgical to endoscopic palliation of dysphagia. Forty patients(32:8a, age 39-79y) suffering from TNM stage III or IV SCCE were divided into two groups: 20 patients were submitted to esophagogastric bypass (surgical group), and 20 patients had an endoscopically placed auto-expandable metal stent (EsophaCoil "In stent", Minnesota, USA)(endoscopic group). Both groups were similar regarding demographic data and nutritional status. The palliation of dysphagia, the incidence of early and late complications, the life quality (Karnofsky Index), the survival, the length of inpatient stay and the costs were evaluated in both groups. There was no difference between surgical and endoscopic groups regarding palliation of dysphagia, frequency of complications, quality of life, and survival. Early and late most common postsurgical complications were anastomotic leak and stenosis, respectively. The most common post-endoscopic complications were both late: benign hyperplasia and tumour overgrowth. None of the surgical or endoscopic complications were related to mortality. Hospital length stay and the costs were significantly higher in the surgical group (15.5 days vs 3 days, P < 0.001; U$ 4.690,45 +/- 1.360,28 vs U$ 2.618,24 +/- 944,98 P < 0.001). In conclusion, the endoscopic placement of an esophageal metal stent for the palliation of malignant dysphagia in patients with irresectable disease is equally effective as surgical bypass at lower costs and reduced length of inpatient stay.