The functional significance of RANK/RANKL/OPG signaling pathway and pilot study in breast cancer have led us to investigate the association between the esophageal cancer and SNPs in the genes of RANK, RANKL and OPG. In a hospital-based case-control study, we performed genotyping analyses of the five miRNA SNPs in 629 ESCC cases and 686 controls in a Chinese population. Here, TNFRSF11A is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.