The purpose of this study was to use an empirical MPS-H test, which measures both MPS-1 and MPS-1-like proteins, to 1) compare average MPS-H levels between HNSCC patients and normal controls and 2) to illustrate how the MPS-H test may be useful for surveillance and evaluating response to treatment for HNSCC. Here, RPS27 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.