Abstract: 【Objective】 To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of salivary miR -10b for esophageal cancer(EC).【Methods】 Forty patients with EC and forty healthy controls were recruited. Total RNA was extracted from saliva samples for measurement of miR -10b using RT -PCR. The correlations between the expression of miR -10b and pathological characteristics

diagnostic and prognosis were analyzed. 【Results】 The levels of miR -10b in both the saliva supernatant and whole saliva were significantly higher in EC group than in the control group (P < 0.0001)

with the average fold -change of 26.60 and 36.99

respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of miR -10b for EC were 100.0% and 77.5%

77.5% and 97.5%

respectively. Salivary miR -10b showed no significant correlation with nodal metastasis and cancer stages (P > 0.05). The overall survival of EC in the low expression of miR -10b (<35.49 ± 58.90) was significantly higher than that in the high expression group (>35.49 ± 58.90

P = 0.046).【Conclusion】 The salivary miR -21 can be a sensitive biomarkers for EC

and the expression miR -21 of saliva supernatant has the potential to assessment prognosis.