Combining systemic chemotherapy and local-regional surgery can improve survival in patients with operable oesophageal cancer.36 However, some researchers have reported that CD117 overexpression and/or activation significantly correlated with resistance to chemotherapy in patients with ovarian carcinoma and malignant mesothelioma.37,38 Moreover, Chau et al. 39 confirmed that CD117 mediated resistance to chemotherapy through activation of Wnt–β-catenin–ATP-binding cassette G2 signalling. This evidence concerns the gene KIT and malignant mesothelioma.