Yoshida N, et al. - For postoperative morbidity following esophagectomy for esophageal, researchers investigated the predictive value of sputum in the respiratory tract cancer. Among 609 consecutive patients who underwent three-incisional esophagectomy for esophageal cancer between April 2005 and November 2018, the respiratory tract in 76 (12.5%) on preoperative computed tomography displayed sputum. Patients with older age, more extreme smoking habit, worse performance status, lower forced expiratory volume 1%, and more frequent pulmonary comorbidities showed sputum in the respiratory tract significantly more frequently; incidence of postoperative pneumonia was also higher in these patients vs those without sputum. Postesophagectomy pneumonia could be predicted by sputum in the respiratory tract. A high risk of postoperative morbidities is associated with sputum in the more distal respiratory tract.