AIM:To characterize the gene expression profiles in differentstages of carcinogenesis of esophageal epithelium.METHODS:A microarray containing 588 cancer relatedgenes was employed to study the gene expression profileat different stages of esophageal squamous cell carcinomaincluding basal cell hyperplasia,high-grade dysplasia,carcinoma in situ,early and late cancer.Principle componentanalysis was performed to search the genes which wereimportant in carcinogenesis.RESULTS:More than 100 genes were up or down regulatedin esophageal epithelial cells during the stages of basal cellhyperplasia,high-grade dysplasia,carcinoma in situ,earlyand late cancer.Principle component analysis identified aset of genes which may play important roles in the tumordevelopment.Comparison of expression profiles betweenthese stages showed that some genes,such as P160ROCK,JNK2,were activated and may play an important role inearly stages of carcinogenesis.CONCLUSION:These findings provided an esophagealcancer-specific and stage-specific expression profiles,showing that complex alterations of gene expression underliethe development of malignant phenotype of esophagealcancer cells. AIM: To characterize the gene expression profiles in different stages of carcinogenesis of esophageal epithelium. METHODS: A microarray containing 588 cancer related genes was employed to study the gene expression profileat different stages of esophageal squamous cell carcinomaincluding basal cell hyperplasia, high-grade dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, early and late cancer. Principle componentanalysis was performed to search the genes which were were implanted in carcinogenesis. RESULTS: More than 100 genes were up or down regulated in esophageal epithelial cells during the stages of basal cell hyperplasia, high-grade dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, Early and late cancer. Principle components analysis identified a set of genes which may play important roles in the tumor development. Comparison of expression profiles betweenthese stages showed that some genes, such as P160ROCK, JNK2, were activated and may play an important role inearly stages of carcinogenesis. CONCLUSION: These findings provided an esophagealcancer-spec ific and stage-specific expression profiles, showing that complex alterations of gene expression underlie the development of malignant phenotype of esophageal cancer cells.