Abstract: Objective 　To investigate the expression and clinical significance of MGMT and survivin in esophageal carcinoma. Methods 　Expression and their relationship with clinicopathological parameters of MGMT gene and survivin proteins was detected by immunohistochemical techniques ( EnVision) in 56 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, 20 cases of carcinoma with adenoid st ructure and 9 cases of small cell carcinoma. Results 　Significant difference was observed in the expression of MGMT between small cell carcinoma and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 、esophageal carcinoma with adenoid st ructure ( P < 0. 01) ; The positive rate of Survivin expression in poor differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (45. 45 %) was lower than that in well and moderate differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (84. 44 %, P < 0. 05) . The expression of survivin was significantly higher in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma than in esophageal carcinoma with adenoid st ructure ( P < 0. 05) . Conclusion 　The expression of MGMT and survivin was signicantly correlated with histological type of the esophageal carcinoma, which may be used as important indexes to evaluate the prognosis of esophageal carcinoma.