Furthermore, Patched1 (PTCH1), another key mediator of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, together with Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), one of mammalian HH ligands, were significantly enriched in EC resection tissue from the patients with minimal-residual disease (MRD) after receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT), and PTCH1 is upregulated in CD44+/CD24− CSC population in both EAC (OE33) and ESCC (OE21) cell lines [131]. This evidence concerns the gene CD44 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.