Our study demonstrated that depletion of PCAT-1 in HNSCC cell lines inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis by i) inhibiting c-Myc and AKT1 expression, ii) activating ASK1 mediated p38 MAPK signalling, and iii) inducing Caspase 9 and PARP cleavage. The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.