Previous studies have shown frequent allelic loss on chromosome 13 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We assessed the frequency of allelic loss on chromosome 13q14 and mutations of deleted in cancer 1 (DICE1) (also found on 13q14) in ESCC patients to determine if this candidate tumor suppressor gene has a role in the development of ESCC, and whether this gene was an inactivation target for allelic loss on chromosome 13q14. Initially, we examined allelic loss at five markers flanking DICE1 in 56 ESCC patients from Shanxi Province, China, and then examined the entire coding sequence of this gene for mutations using polymerase chain reaction-single-strand confirmation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis and DNA sequencing. Subsequently, we extended our evaluation to an additional 80 ESCC patients and 232 healthy individuals to confirm the germline variant found in the initial 56 ESCC patients. The frequencies of allelic loss were 71, 58, and 75% for D13S325, D13S757, and D13S887, respectively, in the initial 56 ESCC patients studied. Overall, 73% of informative patients had loss of heterozygosity (LOH) for at least one of these three markers. Somatic mutations were identified in three patients (3/56, 5%), and one novel polymorphism was identified in 3% of ESCC patients (4/136) and 3% of healthy individuals (6/232). We conclude that DICE1 mutations occur in ESCC but are infrequent. The candidate tumor suppressor gene corresponding to the frequent allelic loss on chromosome 13q14 in ESCC remains unknown.