EGFR and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: As the seventh most common cancer worldwide, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) had more than 300 000 new cases and caused over 140 000 deaths worldwide.1 In recent years, neck dissection improved overall survival (OS) rate and decreased the relapse rate, but caused injury to the anatomically contiguous and prolonged patients’ hospital stay.2 Precise treatment targeting EGFR reduced patients’ recurrence and metastasis, but a subset of tumors remains ineffective.3, 4 And the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and development of HNSCC are poorly understood.