Esophageal carcinoma (ESCC) is a common type of fatal cancer with high mortality. The purpose is to identify key genes and determine the potential mechanisms involved in the development of esophageal carcinoma based on bioinformatics analysis. Chromosome maintenance 6 complex (MCM6) has been identified to be up-regulated in a variety of malignancies. However, its effects on esophageal carcinoma remain unclear. Using the GEPIA database, it was investigated how MCM6 expression varied between healthy and cancerous esophagus tissues. And the result that ESCC with high MCM6 gene expression was found. Then immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay was performed to detect MCM6 expression in both healthy and malignant esophageal tissues, and the result showed high MCM6 protein expression in ESCC. The χ2 analysis to explore the correlation between clinic-pathological features and protein expression and the tumor size of esophageal cancer was substantially associated with MCM6 expression in 78 patients in our hospital. By performing a colony formation assay, the promoting effect of MCM6 on the proliferation of esophageal cancer cells was identified. Tumor growth assay confirmed the promoting role of MCM6 in the progression of esophageal cancer in vivo. The correlation between MCM6 and PCNA was detected by database and immunohistochemistry, and we found that MCM6 was positively correlated with PCNA expression. Further, it was speculated that MCM6 might promote the proliferation of esophageal cancer cells by mediating PNCA expression. In conclusion, MCM6 might become a new target for the treatment of esophageal carcinoma.