A previous study showed that overexpression of OCT4 in ESCC has been consistently associated with cancer proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance.22 In the present study, based on the analysis of 95 ESCC patient samples with complete follow‐up data, the LEF1 expression level in ESCC was higher than that in adjacent tissue, and the high expression of LEF1 in patients was strongly associated with poor prognosis. The gene discussed is POU5F1; the disease is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.