Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted with prognostic effect as the independent variable (good prognosis = 0, poor prognosis = 1) and IGFBP-2, albumin, absolute lymphocyte value, and PNI level as the dependent variables, and the results showed that the AUC of IGFBP-2, albumin, absolute lymphocyte value, and PNI in combination with predicting poor prognosis of esophageal cancer (0.887, 95% CI: 0.799 – 0.975) was the largest, with sensitivity and specificity of 94.12% and 92.47%, respectively (P < 0.05). The gene discussed is IGFBP2; the disease is esophageal cancer.