Abstract: Objective To explore the clinical significance of CTHRC1 in the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC）. Methods CTHRC1 expression of 215 ESCC cases were detected by tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. Results The positive rate of CTHRC1 expression was 619％（133／215） in ESCC， while no or weak expression of CTHRC1 was observed in adjacent non-cancerous tissues. There was significant correlation between the expression of CTHRC1 and tumor invasion （P=0.006）， lymph node metastasis （P=0.002） and tumor stage （P＜0.001）. KaplanMeier analysis revealed that patients with CTHRC1 positive expression had a shorter survival time than that without CTHRC1 expression （medican overall survival: 57 months vs. 73 months，P=0.016）. CTHRC1 expression was't an independent factor for ESCC according to multivariable regression analysis. Conclusion CTHRC1 was increased with the development and progression of ESCC， indicating CTHRC1 might modulate the development and progression of ESCC.