Epithelial mesenchymal transition-inducible UMSCC81B and HSC3 cell lines are histologically poorly-differentiated HNSCC lines, whereas EMT non-inducible HSC2 and UMSCC6 lines are well-differentiated keratinising HNSCC cell lines, suggesting that the HNSCC cell line harbouring a partial EMT-like phenotype, such as simultaneous E-cadherin and vimentin expression, has a potential for generating fully dedifferentiated EMT. The gene discussed is VIM; the disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.