Abstract: Objective To investigate the role and clinical significance of IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17 on the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer by detecting the level of IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17 in serum. Methods Fifty-one patients with esophageal cancer who were treated in Nanchong Central Hospital from June,2013 to June,2014 as test group,and 40 healthy persons as control group.Collected serums and the levels of serum IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Data were analyzed by independent sample t test,one-way analysis of variance (One-way ANOVA) and partial correlation analysis (Partial) with SPSS 16.0. Results The serum levels of IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17 with esophageal cancer were significantly higher than healthy controls (P<0.01).In test group,the serum levels of IL-12 were significantly higher than IL-16 and IL-17(P<0.01).In control group,the serum levels of IL-12 and IL-16 were significantly higher than IL-17(P<0.01).In the removal of IL-16,the level of IL-12 was significantly correlated with the expression of IL-17 in serum of patients with esophageal cancer (P<0.01).In the removal of IL-12,the level of IL-16 was significantly correlated with the expression of IL-17 in serum of patients with esophageal cancer (P<0.01). Conclusion IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17 were highly expressed in serum of patients with esophageal carcinoma compared with the control group.IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17 play an important role in the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer.We speculate that the level of IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17 was in the immune regulation imbalance of esophageal cancer,perhaps there is a complex signal transduction pathway among IL-12,IL-16 and IL-17.