MME and neoplasm: As shown in Figure 4A, a total of 24 genes (INHBA, MLLT11, PTGS2, PHTF2, CCL26, FN1, MFAP2, SPARC, MME, FKBP14, SHOX2, NUAK1, CYP26B1, MUCL1, ASAP1, KDELC1, TSPAN9, VEGFA, COL1A1, HTRA1, GUCY1A2, OLR1, KIF3C, and CLDN1) with high expression in ESCC tumor, high expression in paclitaxel resistance, and positively associated with ESCC tumor status were selected as paclitaxel resistance-specific genes.