However, despite the fact that MTH1 and NUDT5 are highly expressed in multiple types of human cancers (Iida et al., 2001; Kennedy et al., 1998; Li et al., 2017; Okamoto et al., 1996; Song et al., 2015), the clinical importance of MTH1 and NUDT5 in ESCC tissues and the effects of MTH1 and NUDT5 on ESCC cell growth, invasion and metastasis remain unknown. The gene discussed is NUDT5; the disease is cancer.