Using the median expression as the cut-off, we classified ESCC samples of TCGA dataset into ferroptosis cluster A with low expression of AKR1C3 and BST2, ferroptosis cluster B with high expression of AKR1C3, and ferroptosis cluster C with low expression of AKR1C3 and high expression of BST2. Here, AKR1C3 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.