It is difficult to perform radical surgery for esophageal cancer with multiple lymph node metastases. Therefore, effective neoadjuvant adjuvant treatment is necessary to achieve successful radical resection. The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy of docetaxel, cisplatin (CDOP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (DCF) in an advanced case is reported. The patient (a 67-year-old female) was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, T3, N4, M0, stage IVa with a large number of lymph node metastases in the mediastinum and in the abdominal cavity. Neoadjuvant DCF chemotherapy was initiated in August 2006. Adverse events were mild. A complete response of the lymph node metastases in the abdominal cavity and a partial response of the esophageal lesion were achieved. The surgical procedure included a right thoracolaparotomy followed by a subtotal excision of the esophagus and two-field lymph node dissection. The cancer was diagnosed to be moderately differentiated squamous cell cancer, pT2, pN4(3c) and pstage IVa. The histological efficacy of the chemotherapy was determined to be grade 1a. Two additional courses of DCF therapy were administered followed by postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.