The results showed that the proliferation and migration ability of esophageal cancer cells increased significantly after treatment with 30 mmol/L LiCl, while overexpression of SPINK5 significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of esophageal cancer cells, and reversed the promotion of LiCl treatment on the proliferation and migration of esophageal cancer cells (Figure 6A‐B). This evidence concerns the gene SPINK5 and esophageal cancer.