A previous study reported that upregulation of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), a key negative regulator of ferroptosis, and downregulation of heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX1), which promotes ferroptosis by increasing the labile iron pool (LIP), were poor prognostic factors in ESCC (Shishido et al., 2020). This evidence concerns the gene HMOX1 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.