Objective: To detect the expression level of angiopoietin-like protein2(ANGPTL2) in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) tissues and investigate the clinical value for diagnosis. Methods：Immunohistochemistry(IHC) was used to determine the relative ANGPTL2 expression levels in ESCC tissues, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to measure the levels of ANGPTL2. Results： Compared with controls， ANGPTL2 expression levels were significantly up-regulated in ESCC tissues and serum (P<0.001)． Higher expression level of ANGPTL2 was found associated with larger tumor size, more lymph node metastasis and TNM stage． ELISA assay showed that serum ANGPTL2 was significantly elevated in ESCC patients and positively associated with high T-stage, high TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. Conclusion： ANGPTL2 plays a crucial role in proliferation and invasion of ESCC. Serum ANGPTL2 has potential value for early detection of ESCC.