TPM3 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Numerous studies have shown that HMW Tpms are expressed at down-regulated levels in cancer, while LMW Tpms are overexpressed in tumor tissues, such as TPM3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), which was shown to be associated with malignant transformation-related invasion and poor survival of malignant cell lines in breast cancer [15].