Abstract: With the innovations sequencing technologies，biotechnology and computational biology，long noncoding RNAs（lncRNAs）are being identified and characterized at a rapid pace. Recent findings reveal that lncRNAs are implicated a series of cancer development. These lncRNAs interact with DNA，RNA，protein molecules and／or their combinations，acting as an essential regulator in chromatin organization，and transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. Their abnormal expression confers the cancer cell activities for tumor initiation， growth and metastasis. This review here will emphasize their aberrant expression and function in cancer，and the roles in cancer diagnosis and therapy will also be discussed. LncRNAs have emerged as an essential regulator in almost all aspects of biology. Accumulating evidence suggests that lncRNAs play an important role in tumorigenesis. In this review，we will briefly review the structure and function of lncRNAs， and then emphasize their aberrant expression and their functional roles in esophageal carcinoma，diagnosis and therapy.