BACKGROUND: Establishment of sister chromatid cohesion N-acetyltransferase 1 (ESCO1) plays an important role in mitosis and is involved in tumor progression of human bladder and prostate cancer. However, its pathological effects on renal cell cancer (RCC) remain unknown. Here, we aimed to assess the impact of ESCO1 down-regulation in RCC cells and explore its role as potential prognosis biomarker for RCC. METHODS: This is a retrospective study. Tumor samples from 263 RCC patients were collected, and survival data were analyzed to detect the relationship between ESCO1 expression and patient survival. For mechanistic exploration, the impact of silence ESCO1 on proliferation, migration and apoptosis were studied in ESCO1-knockdown RCC cells. RESULTS: Significantly over-expression of ESCO1 was observed in renal tumor tissues. ESCO1 expression was related to the malignant degree and a high expression was associated with unfavorable prognosis in RCC patients. Moreover, down-regulation of ESCO1 attenuated cell proliferation and migration. The flow cytometry assay revealed that the knockdown of ESCO1 inhibited RCC cells from entering the G1 phase. CONCLUSIONS: The increased ESCO1 expression in renal tumor tissues might be a useful biomarker for prognosis of RCC patients. Knockdown of ESCO1 undermined proliferation, migration of renal cancer cells, and induced the apoptosis of renal cancer cells.