SPARC and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: In ESCC and the precursor lesions, fascin, FADD, CDC25B, CK14, laminin-5γ2 and SPARC were overexpressed, while Fas, caspase 8, CK4 and annexin I were underexpressed, compared with normal epithelia/mucosa, which were consistent with previous studies on mRNA level [4-10].