To assess the prognostic relevance of 104 DEMAGs in patients with ESCC, univariate Cox regression analysis was conducted using 91 TCGA-ESCC patients; 13 core genes were identified as significant (ACADVL, ALOX12, DLGAP5, DNM1, MPC1, MRPS17, NLRX1, P4HA1, SLC25A32, SPTLC2, TGS1, TUSC3, and TYMS), and thus may have a strong effect on ESCC prognosis (p < 0.05) (Fig. 3A). Here, SPTLC2 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.