HGF and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: In the present study, we first used a ProcartaPlex Array to screen for serum proteins that were increased in 40 ESCC patients compared with matched normal controls; we found that eight proteins (IL‐2, IL‐5, IP‐10, IL‐8, eotaxin, TNF‐α, HGF, and MIP‐1b) had higher serum levels in ESCC patients than in normal controls.