TP53 and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: This hypothesis is supported by findings of previous investigations that observed the presence of TP53 mutations in the field of macroscopically normal mucosa surrounding HNSCC in more than one-third of patients21 and the generation, due to telomere dysfunction in TP53 mutant mice, of non-reciprocal translocations initiating the neoplastic process and accelerating carcinogenesis22.