Kang et al34 compared IKBKE expression in 58 esophageal squamous cell cancers and 58 normal paracancerous tissues by immunohistochemical staining and found that IKBKE was upregulated in 84% of cancer tissues and that an increased degree of IKBKE was not associated with tumor differentiation, depth of invasion or TNM stage. Here, IKBKE is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.