However, we failed to identified SUZ12 expression as an independent prognostic predictor for HNSCC by performing multivariate survival analyses (Cox proportional hazards regression model, data not shown), although previous studies have found that elevated SUZ12 expression associates with adverse prognosis and serves as an independent prognostic predictor for patients with some types of cancer.14, 19, 25 We reasoned that this discrepancy might be caused by sample size, retrospective nature of our study, patient heterogeneity, and different regime for IHC scoring and patient stratification. The gene discussed is SUZ12; the disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.