In this study, we also noted that ivermectin drastically induced apoptosis in both tested ESCC cells based on the following facts: (a) Ivermectin treatment resulted in increased proportions of annexin V binding cells in a concentration‐ and time‐dependent fashion; (b) Specific activation of Caspase‐3 and PAPP were observed upon ivermectin treatment; (c) The levels of pro‐survival proteins including XIAP, Survivin, Bcl‐2, Bcl‐xL and Mcl‐1 were down‐regulated, while the pro‐apoptotic protein Bax was up‐regulated in ivermectin‐treated ESCC cells. Here, XIAP is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.