The purpose of this study was to examine changes in RKIP expression and phosphorylation in tissues resected from oral cancer patients, and compare to results generated from immortalized cell lines raised from primary oral cancer tissues, including oral squamous cell carcinoma line 4 (SCC4) and human squamous cell carcinoma line 3 (HSC3). This evidence concerns the gene PEBP1 and lip and oral cavity carcinoma.