Pemetrexed inhibits the survival of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells. (A) Eca-109 and (B) EC9706 cells were treated with 0, 0.625, 1.25, 2.5, 5 or 10 µM pemetrexed and incubated for the indicated times. Cell survival was estimated using the MTT assay. The survival rate of each drug concentration was compared with that of the control group and analyzed using SPSS software. All data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. ***P<0.001. PEM, pemetrexed.