Abstract:Objective To investigate the mRNA expression levels of sterol O-acyltransferase 1（SOAT1）and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1（TREM1）in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma（ESCC）tissues and analyze their associations with clinical characteristics and prognosis. Methods A total of 118 ESCC patients，who were first diagnosed and received initial treatment at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from January 2017 to June 2019，were included. Postoperative tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues were collected. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction （qRT-PCR） was used to detect SOAT1 and TREM1 mRNA expression levels.Differences in mRNA expression between tumor and adjacent tissues were compared. Associations between SOAT1 and TREM1 mRNA expression and clinical characteristics were analyzed. Cox regression was performed to identify prognostic factors. Results SOAT1 and TREM1 mRNA expression levels in tumor tissues were significantly higher than those in adjacent normal tissues（P<0.05）. Higher SOAT1 mRNA expression was observed in patients with tumor diameter >3 cm，poorly/undifferentiated pathological differentiation，and TNM stage Ⅲ（P<0.05）. Elevated TREM1 mRNA expression was associated with smoking history，tumor diameter >3 cm，poorly/undifferentiated pathology，and TNM stage Ⅲ（P<0.05）. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses indicated that SOAT1 mRNA expression，TREM1 mRNA expression，tumor diameter，differentiation grade，and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors.Conclusion SOAT1 and TREM1 mRNA expression levels are significantly upregulated in ESCC tissues，and both are independent risk factors for poor prognosis in ESCC patients.