In the present study, we found that oxethazaine, a local anesthetic, was a novel AURKA inhibitor (Figs. 3 and 4) and suppressed the proliferation and migration ability of ESCC cells in vitro (Fig. 1) and patient-derived esophageal tumor growth and tumor metastasis in vivo (Fig. 6). This evidence concerns the gene AURKA and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.