Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) catalyzes superoxide radical (O2 (-)) into hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which is further catalyzed by the combined action of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) into water and oxygen. MnSOD plays a role in cell protection from superoxide damage. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MnSOD on regulation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell growth, apoptosis, and cell cycle distribution in vitro and tumor formation and growth in nude mouse xenografts. The data showed that differential levels of MnSOD expression had different effects on tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, plating efficiency (PE), and cell cycle distribution in vitro and tumor formation and growth in nude mice. In particular, high levels of MnSOD expression promoted TE-1 cell growth and PE rate in vitro and in nude mice, whereas moderate MnSOD expression suppressed tumor cell growth and PE rate but induced more cell apoptosis. Thus, these data demonstrated the dual effects of MnSOD protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and further study will confirm these current data.