Finally, using 10 freshly collected clinical ESCC samples, miR-942 expression was shown to be positively correlated with c-myc (r = 0.723, P = 0.01), nuclear β-catenin expression (r = 0.774, P = 0.03) (Fig. 6D and 6E), further supporting the notion that miR-942 is upregulated by c-myc and promoted stem-cell like traits by activating Wnt/β-catenin signalling in ESCC. Here, MYC is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.