STAT1 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Lastly, the expression of STAT1 was significantly higher in benign esophageal tissues (IS: 194.1 ± 11.93) as compared to CIS (IS: 160 ± 15.84) (p = 0.04), whereas the STAT1 expression level in CIS was also higher than that of ESCC (IS: 106 ± 7.78), although this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.10).