The expression of miR-449a in 40 pairs of ESCC tissues and matched normal tissues was determined by TaqMan qRT-PCR, and as shown in Supplementary Fig. S6a, miR-449a expression was not only significantly downregulated in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues but also negatively correlated with the expression of MEST (Supplementary Fig. S6b). The gene discussed is MEST; the disease is neoplasm.