The expression of human glutathione S-transferase-pi (GST-pi) in resected primary esophageal tumors and in matching normal esophageal mucosa from 25 patients undergoing radical surgery was measured by RNA blot hybridization. The RNA transcript levels of GST-pi in the tumor tissues were higher than those in normal tissues in 20 of 25 cases (80%). The mean GST-pi mRNA value in the tumor tissues (n = 25) was significantly (P less than 0.01) elevated as compared with that in background mucosa (n = 29), and in ten of 25 tumors (40%) the level of GST-pi mRNA exceeded the mean normal tissue value by two standard deviations (normal mean value + 2 X SD). The results obtained from the current experiment thus suggests that GST-pi might be a useful marker for human esophageal cancer. No correlation between GST-pi mRNA level and clinical stage or histologic characteristics was apparent.