Consistent with their prognostic significance in HNSCC, these genes have been found to be significantly associated with prognosis in several human cancers, including gastric, breast and colon cancer.42–44 However, besides HOXB9, the biological functions of other three genes in human cancer remain largely underexplored and deserve further investigations. The gene discussed is HOXB9; the disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.