BackgroundThe prognostic value of radical surgery (RS) and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for cervical esophageal cancer (CEC) was estimated using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database after 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM).MethodsThis retrospective study used SEER data of CEC patients between 2004 and 2015. The prognostic effects on cancer-specific survival (CSS) were evaluated using multivariate cox regression analysis following radical surgery or CRT before and after PSM. The subgroup analysis of CSS is carried out according to T stages.ResultsA total of 440 patients met the eligibility criteria. Three hundred and fifty-six(80.9%)patients underwent chemoradiotherapy, and eighty-four (19.1%) patients underwent radical surgery. There were significant differences between patients of radical surgery and CRT groups with regard to the tumor grade, histology and N stage. After PSM, 80 matched pairs (A total of 160 patients) were selected. Multivariable cox regression analysis revealed no difference in the CSS of patients that underwent either radical surgery or CRT before [hazard ratio (HR): 0.955, 95% CI: 0.704–1.295, P = 0.766] and after PSM (HR: 0.767, 95% CI: 0.512–1.149, P = 0.198). Subgroup analysis revealed no significant difference in CSS between patients with radical surgery and CRT groups for all T stages (T 1–4, all P > 0.05).ConclusionsThis analysis revealed that the prognostic outcomes in patients with cervical esophageal cancer were comparable between radical surgery and CRT.