Objective To investigate the expression of PED/PEA-15 mRNA and protein in esophageal carcinoma tissue and their clinical significances.Methods The expression of PED/PEA-15 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR,and the expression of PED/PEA-15 protein was measured by immunohistochemistry in 50 cases of esophageal carcinoma,50 cases of corresponding paracarcinoma tissue,and 50 cases of corresponding normal esophageal tissue.Results The expression of PED/PEA-15 mRNA was 1.14±0.49 in esophageal carcinoma,which was significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma tissue (0.59±0.31) and normal esophageal carcinoma tissue (0.53±0.22) (F =44.085,P ＜ 0.001).The immunohistochemistry results showed that PED/PEA-15 protein expression was significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma tissue and normal esophageal tissue (x2 =36.967,P ＜ 0.001; x2 =26.272,P ＜ 0.001).The expression of PED/PEA-15 mRNA and protein were significantly associated with pathological grade,clinical stage of esophageal carcinoma (P ＜ 0.05),but were not significantly correlated to the age of onset,gender,pathological types (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion The expression of PED/PEA-15 mRNA and protein are increased in esophageal carcinoma,which may play an important role in the occurrence and development of esophageal carcinoma.