MTDH and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: AEG-1/MTDH (astrocyte elevated gene-1 or metadherin or lyric), originally identified as a neuropathology-associated gene in primary human fetal astrocytes [7], is now established as an oncogene in a variety of cancers, including lung [8], breast [9], diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [10], hepatocellular carcinoma [11], squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck [12], renal cell carcinoma [13], neuroblastoma [14], prostate cancer [15], glioma [16], colorectal cancer [17], and gastric cancer [18].