HMGB1 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Previous studies have shown that HMGB1 protein is involved in various tumor development processes, including proliferation [19], metastasis [11, 20], activation of multiple signaling pathways [21–23], DNA damage repair [24] and autophagy, et al. Simultaneously, evidence from other study suggests that HMGB1 knockdown increases the radio-sensitivity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by regulating the expression of nicotinamide adenine nucleotide phosphate oxidase-mediated ROS production and inducing DNA damage via the MAPK signaling pathway [25].