Increasing evidences show that lncRNAs involve important roles in ESCC, such as proliferation, metastasis, apoptosis, metabolism, and radiotherapy resistance34–37, DGCR5 has been identified to participate in the progression in various tumors, such as gallbladder cancer14 bladder cancer19, non-small cell lung cancer38, and glioma39. The gene discussed is DGCR5; the disease is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.