Abstract: Objective To analyze the expression and clinical significance of osteopontin（OPN）in esophageal carcinoma. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of OPN in normal esophageal tissue and in 120 specimens of esophageal carcinoma tumor tissue and tumor-adjacent tissue showing atypical hyperplasia. Results OPN expression density was lowest in normal esophageal tissues （0），higher in tumor-adjacent tissues showing atypical hyperplasia（34.78%） and highest in esophageal carcinoma tissues（76.67%）. Expression of OPN protein correlated with tumor TNM stage，lymph node metastasis and infiltrative depth of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma（P<0.05）. The five-year survival rate was significantly higher in patients negative for OPN expression than in those positive for OPN expression（28.6% vs 10.7%，P<0.05）. Conclusion Studying OPN expression may generate insights into the pathogenesis， invasion and metastasis of esophageal carcinoma，and it may provide tools for predicting the prognosis of patients with the disease.

Key words: Esophageal neoplasm, Osteopontin, Clinical significance