Abstract: Objective 　To investigates the relationship between DNA, cell cycle analysis and the pathologi2 cal feature in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the esophagus. Methods 　Flow cytomet ry was used to measure DNA ploidy and synthesis2phase f raction (SPF) of the resected esophageal tissues f rom 98 pa2 tient s with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the esophagus. Results 　DNA aneuploidy was present in 66 (67. 3 %) of the 98 patient s. There were no significant differences in DNA content and the clinicopatho2 logical features such as sex, pathological type, differentiation, TNM stage, lymph node involvement . However, we detected that the lymph node positive group had a significant higher SPF than that of the negtive group ( P = 0. 03) . Conclusion 　Although the DNA index (DI) in esophageal carcinoma has little clinical significance, the synthesis2phase f raction ( SPF) can help to evaluate the involvement of lymph node.