Finally, 18 SMGs were identified (Fig. 2, Supplementary Table 6), 15 of which had been previously reported in ESCC (TP53, AJUBA, CDKN2A, KMT2D(MLL2), ZNF750, FAT1, NOTCH1, NOTCH3, PIK3CA, NFE2L2, RB1, KDM6A, FBXW7, CREBBP, and TGFBR2). This evidence concerns the gene PIK3CA and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.