Consistent with the above in vitro studies, the level of CTHRC1 mRNA was significantly positively correlated with those of CCND1 and SNAI1 in ESCC tumour tissues (n = 119, r = 0.227, P = 0.013; r = 0.550, P < 0.0001, Pearson’s correlation coefficient; Fig. 7a,b). This evidence concerns the gene SNAI1 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.