Abstract: Objective: To investigate the expression of copper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATP7B) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and the correlations between the expression with metastasis of lymph nodes and the prognosis of cancer. Methods: Immunohistochemistry method (ABC) was applied to determine the expression of ATP7B in 64 surgically resected specimens of esophageal cancer. Clinical data were reviewed and their correlations with the expression of ATP7B were analyzed. Results: Immunoreactivity of ATP7B was chiefly located in the membrane and / or cytoplasm of esophageal cancer cells. The positive immunostaining rate for ATP7B in 64 patients with esophageal cancer was 63% (40/64). The positive immunostaining rate for ATP7B in the patients with and without lymphatic metastasis was 73%(30/41) and 43% (10/23), respectively. The difference was significant (P=0.019). The positive immunostaining rate for ATP7B in the patients surviving more than 5 years was 39% (7/18) and that in the patients surviving less than 5 years was 72% (33/46). The difference was significant (P=0.015). Conclusion: The over-expression of ATP7B in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is closely correlated with prognosis of the patients.