The worldwide prevalence of esophageal cancer varies greatly, with the highest rates found in Asia. In the United States, the two most common types of esophageal cancers are squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and adenocarcinoma (EAC). Since patients are typically diagnosed at a late stage of the disease, overall five-year survival is approximately 18 percent. Given the poor survival rate, the advanced stage of the disease at diagnosis and the increasing frequency of ESCC (worldwide) and EAC (U.S.), it is increasingly important to understand the molecular mechanisms of initiation of these tumors as well as the genes and pathways involved, which is what Dr. Douglas Stairs' work focuses on.