HOXB7 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Moreover, multivariate analysis with variables including age, sex, tumor location, TNM stage, T stage, N stage, and HOXB7 expression showed that HOXB7 expression and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors in 177 patients recruited in the prospective database (HR[95%CI] = 0.573, [0.341–0.963], p = 0.036) and 103 patients recruited in another cohort without prospective data (HR[95%CI] = 0.543, [0.350–0.844], p = 0.024), indicating that HOXB7 had prognostic value for patients with ESCC.