BECN1 and esophageal cancer: Indeed, other studies have shown increased protein levels for Beclin-1 and ATG5, another protein involved in the early stages of autophagosome formation48, 49, in the rectus abdominis of weight losing upper gastrointestinal or pancreatic cancer patients33 and a LC3B-II/LC3B-I ratio higher than in controls has been observed in the vastus lateralis of esophageal cancer patients31.