YBX1 and cancer: The most important two recent observations include the following: (i) cytoplasmic YB-1 involvement in EMT (Evdokimova et al, 2009), which has a key role in cancer invasion and metastasis and (ii) YB-1 induction of CD44 expression (To et al, 2010), which is a widely recognised marker for initiation of cancer cell development including initiation of the HNSCC cancer process (Prince et al, 2007).