Importantly, the stimulatory effects of suprabasin on proliferation and tumorigenesis of ESCC cells were drastically reduced upon treatment with a Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibitor, both in vitro and in vivo (Fig. 5f–h), suggesting that functional Wnt/β-catenin activation is vital to the biological effects of suprabasin in ESCC cells. Here, SBSN is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.