Twenty one out of thirty one (67.7%) methylation-positive esophageal tumors showed a complete lack of immunoreactivity of p16. Twelve out of nineteen (63.2%) of unmethylated tumors represented diffuse immunoreactivity, whereas 7/19 (36.8%) of unmethylated tumors were not immunostained for p16. p16 negative staining was significantly correlated with p16 methylation (P = 0.033). Here, CDKN2A is linked to neoplasm of esophagus.