Objective: To explore the core genes and pathways of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Methods: The differentially expressed genes between EAC tissue and normal esophageal tissue were analyzed with GEO database. A variety of online analysis software were used for functional enrichment

pathway analysis

construction of protein-protein interaction network

and selection of core genes. Combined with TCGA and Oncomine database

the core genes were verified

the ROC curves were drawn and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Results: A total of 141 core genes were obtained from 4 GEO datasets

which were mainly enriched in the extracellular matrix

mainly in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathways

and tyrosine

histidine

phenylalanine and β-alanine metabolic pathways. COL1A2

TIMP1 and MMP1 were screened out in TCGA and Oncomine databases. The AUC of COL1A2 was 0.707-0.954

that of TIMP1 was 0.795-0.984

and that of MMP1 is 0.896-1.000. Conclusion: Screening out core genes and pathways related to EAC by bioinformatics is helpful for early molecular diagnosis and gene targeted therapy of EAC.