As show in Fig. 3i and Table 3, the mRNA and protein expression of DACT1, DACT2 in ESCC tissues with hypermethylation of TSS-region were significantly reduced compared to those in ESCC tissues without methylation of this region (P < 0.05); However, the mRNA and protein expression of DACT1 was not different between the ESCC tissues with or without hypermethylation of CGI-shore region (region1) (P > 0.05). Here, DACT1 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.