To investigate whether MERTK could serve as a therapeutic target in HNSCC we treated Detroit 562 cells, derived from a pleural effusion of a patient with pharynx carcinoma [32], that strongly express MERTK and HN cells with little MERTK expression with UNC1062, a selective MERTK inhibitor [28]. Here, MERTK is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.