Results of IHC H-scores showed that AHR was highly expressed in ESCC compared with normal tissues (Additional file 2: Fig.S1A and 1B) and significantly correlated with TNM stage and lymph nodes metastasis (Additional file 2: Fig.S1C and 1D), while it had no significant associations with patients’ age, smoking habit, tumor differentiation and T stage (data not shown). This evidence concerns the gene AHR and neoplasm.