The results demonstrated that conditioned media from ESCC cells overexpressing LINC00330 promoted polarization toward M1 TAMs, as characterized by increased expression of IL-12α and IRF5 and decreased expression of CD163 and CD206 (Fig. 4C–E, and Additional file 3: Figure S3B-D). This evidence concerns the gene IRF5 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.