The other ATBC study, in 82 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) vs 82 controls matched for age and date of blood draw, reported a multivariate OR of 6.83 (95% CI: 1.46–31.84) for ESCC in individuals in the lowest quartile of baseline serum ghrelin vs those in the highest quartile (P=0.005 for trend). Here, GHRL is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.