In addition to the induction of DNA damage and cell cycle arrest (Zhang et al., 2017), AIF induced apoptosis in ESCC cells by upregulating the miR-370/Pim family kinases 1 (PIM1) signaling (Han et al., 2016) and by suppressing the expression of Nrf2, HO-1 and NADPH:quinine oxidoreductase-1 (Zhang et al., 2017). Here, HMOX1 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.