Recently, phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1), a key aerobic glycolysis enzyme, has been identified to be frequently upregulated and involved in the tumorigenesis of different types of human cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, oral squamous cell carcinoma, glioma, urothelial bladder cancer, renal clear cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer4–9. Here, PGAM1 is linked to oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.