MAPK8 and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: As expected, pathways involved in initiation, progression and maintenance of HNSCC,37,38 such as those associated with AKT, JNK, IL-6/STAT3, ILK, RAS, MAPK/ERK, p38/PAK, TGFβ, PI3K/mTOR and WNT signaling, were among the most significantly upregulated molecular axes in OSCC patients compared to normal controls (Figure 1a).