['Early stages of esophageal cancer lack a specific symptom, a reliable biomarker and accurate non-invasive diagnostic modalities prompting the pressing need for identification of a marker for early diagnosis of this disease.', 'In the present study we investigated the levels of circulating and tissue mRNAs of Oct-3/4, Sox-2, Nanog and Bmi-1 in esophageal cancer patients using Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) with the aim of evaluating their potential as minimally invasive diagnostic markers.', 'Increased transcript levels of Oct-4, Sox-2, Bmi-1 and Nanog were detected in (92%), (95%), (75%) and (67%) of the esophageal cancer tissues, respectively as compared with the matched distant normals.'] Is increased Levels of Circulating and Tissue mRNAs of Oct-4 , Sox-2 , Bmi-1 and Nanog ESCC Patients : Potential Tool for Minimally Invasive Cancer Diagnosis?