CD274 and cancer: As shown in Figure 1, from an initial cohort of 2635 patients diagnosed with ESCC, 446 (16.9%) patients with non-ESCC diagnoses, 1402 (53.2%) patients at non-IV stages of ESCC, 326 (12.4%) patients who did not receive PD-L1 and PD-1 treatment, 51 (1.94%) patients with incomplete medical records, 176 (6.68%) patients lacking LDH data during first-line treatment, and 108 (4.1%) patients diagnosed with other cancers were excluded.