Objective：To study the expression of paxillin and CD44v6 in esophageal carcinoma and to investigate the relationship between the expression of paxillin and CD44v6 and invasion and metastasis of esophageal carcinoma. Methods：Paxillin and CD44v6 expression were detected in 24 normal esophageal mucosa, 94 primary tumor tissues and 83 lymph nodes by SP immunohistochemical method. Results：The positive expression rate of paxillin in primary tumor tissues was related with invasive depth（P < 0.01）, clinical staging（P < 0.01） and metastasis of lymph node（P < 0.05）. The positive expression rate of CD44v6 in primary tumor tissues was related with invasive depth（P < 0.05）, clinical staging（P < 0.01） and metastasis of lymph node（P < 0.05）. The expression of paxillin, CD44v6 in primary tumor tissue and metastatic lymph node was much higher than that in non-metastatic lymph node respectively（P < 0.05）. Paxillin expression was not correlated with CD44v6 expression in lymph node tissues（P > 0.05）. Conclusion：Paxillin and CD44v6 are over expressed in esophageal carcinoma tissue. They play an important role in invasion and progression of esophageal carcinoma and can be used as valuable biomakers to evaluate esophageal carcinoma metastasis.