We found that treatment of all HNSCC cells with Gefitinib and Erlotinib, two Food Drug Administration-approved EGFR inhibitors, blocked the activity of Akt/mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase, two crucial downstream effectors of EGFR, but up-regulated IKKβ/NF-κB signalling. Here, AKT1 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.