The number of lung pulmonary metastatic foci was 15 ± 2.65 and 5.67 ± 1.53 in the control and shLTBP1 groups respectively (*p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA), indicating that LTBP1 knockdown reduced the metastasis capacity of ESCC cells in vivo (Fig. 3f). The gene discussed is LTBP1; the disease is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.