It has been reported that dihydroartemisinin (DHA), a conventional drug to kill malaria parasites, can induce pyroptosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells via PKM2 caspase-8/3-GSDME pathway, providing a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of ESCC (Jiang et al., 2021b). This evidence concerns the gene PKM and malaria.