CST1 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Furthermore, the CST1 level in the early stages (stage I and II) of the ESCC group demonstrated a significant increase in comparison to the esophageal benign lesions group (p < 0.001), suggesting that CST1 possesses the ability to differentiate early esophageal cancer from benign esophageal lesions (p < 0.001).