Abstract: Objective To investigate connective tissue growth factor(CTGF) mRNA expression level in esophageal cancer and to analyze the influencing factors of the survival of esophageal cancer patients after operation.Methods We quantified CTGF mRNA expression level and CTGF protein expression level in 186 pairs of esophageal cancer and normal esophageal tissues with real-time PCR assay.Results Paired-sample t-test indicated that the expression level of CTGF mRNA in cancers (5.29±5.12)was significantly higher than that of in matched controls(8.63±5.12,t=10.112,P=0.0000) and the expression of CTGF protein level in cancers (20.83±8.20)was significantly higher than that of in matched controls(4.52±4.53,t=23.820,P=0.0000).The univariate survival analysis showed that the mRNA expression of CTGF,the protein expression of CTGF,gender,family history,metastasis,and differentiation had significant association with survival rate.Cox regression survival analysis showed that the mRNA expression of CTGF,the protein expression of CTGF,gender,family history,lymphonode metastasis,differentiation,infiltration depth,tumor size were significantly independent factors of survival rate.Conclusion Up-regulation of CTGF in esophageal cancer may influence patient's prognosis and it may be identified as a novel prognostic indicator and a potential therapeutic target.