Abstract: Objective To explore the clinical significance of epithelial cellular adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM)expression in esophageal carcinoma.Methods Ep-CAM expression of in 60 cases of esophageal carcinoma、35 cases of atypical hyperplasia and 35 cases of normal esophageal mu-cosa was respectively examined by immunohistochemistry.Results Ep-CAM expression were ob-served with positive in 28.75% of atypical hyperplasia and 90.00% of esophageal carcinoma,but with no positive expression in normal esophageal mucosa.The Ep-CAM expression with positive were significantly differently between degrees of tumor differentiation(P <0.01),lymphatic metas-tasis and 3-year survival(P <0.05).Conclusion The increase of Ep-CAM expression,as a specific index,may has the potential for esophageal cancer diagnosis and prognosis.