Pemetrexed induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells. (A) Eca-109 and (B) EC9706 cells were treated with 0, 2.5, 5 or 10 µM pemetrexed and incubated for 24 h. Following treatment, the cells were harvested for cell cycle assays. The frequency of G1-phase cells was quantified using FlowJo software and analyzed using SPSS. All data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. PI, propidium iodide; PEM, pemetrexed; RMS, root mean square.