Furthermore, treatment with a MEK1/2 inhibitor (U0126 at 10 μM) significantly reversed CTHRC1-induced proliferation, migration and invasion of KYSE450 cells (Fig. 5d-f), indicating that MAPK/MEK/ERK activation may underlie the phenotypes induced by CTHRC1 in ESCC cells. Here, CTHRC1 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.