The goal of this study was to compare dacomitinib (PF-00299804), a next generation small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that irreversibly blocks multiple HER family receptors (HER-1 (EGFR), HER-2 and HER-4 tyrosine kinases), to cetuximab, the current FDA approved anti-EGFR medication for HNSCC and erlotinib, an EGFR specific small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Here, EGFR is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.