Immune predation is a major form of selective pressure.11 The prognostic effects of CD8+ TIL density in HPV− HNSCC remain controversial.30 Feng et al. reported that CD8+ TILs at the IM correlated with higher OS of patients with HPV− oral squamous cell cancer.3 We have also found that CD8+ TIL was densest in the IM region; however, either in our cohort or in TCGA samples, there was no correlation between CD8+ TIL density and OS in HPV− HNSCC (measured at different cutoffs). Here, CD8A is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.