In the analysis of ESCC tissues from different patients, GPR174 expression was elevated in ESCC tissue with lymph node invasion (N1-3) and classified as stage III/IV compared with ESCC tissues without lymph node invasion (N0) and classified as stage I/II according to the 7th edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system (Fig. 2C, D). Here, GPR174 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.