It has been well known that there is occasionally a postoperative recurrence in early esophageal carcinoma. However, the clinicopathologic characteristics of early squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus with a postoperative recurrence have not been elucidated. The subjects were 103 patients with early carcinoma of the esophagus including 10 patients with subsequent recurrence, who had been surgically treated. Clinicopathologic features were compared between patients with the presence and absence of recurrence of carcinoma. No special clinicopathologic feature was observed in early esophageal carcinomas with subsequent recurrence, when compared with early carcinomas without recurrence. Physicians should realize that there is always a possibility of recurrence in early carcinomas of the esophagus, and that a leading clinical strategy for superficial carcinoma of the esophagus is the surgical treatment.