The mRNA sequencing data acquired from the GTEx database revealed that IL-1RA was downregulated in ESCC tissues in comparison to healthy esophageal tissues (P < 0.0001, Fig. 1A–C), which was consistent with the data obtained from mRNA sequencing of 5 ESCC patients (Supplementary Fig. 1). This evidence concerns the gene IL1RN and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.