Interestingly, we found that a transcriptional repressor SIM2, which induces differentiation of ESCC cells [28] and overexpresses in the epithelial I-type ESCCs (S7 Table), downregulated strongly both S100A8 and S100A9 in a three-dimensional culture of ESCC cells (data not shown). This evidence concerns the gene S100A9 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.