Vimentin has been regarded as a marker of metastasis in a variety of cancers, such as breast cancer39 and non-small cell lung carcinoma.40 In triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), Vimentin is regarded as an indicator of poor prognosis.39 In non-small cell lung carcinomas, high expression of Vimentin is thought to be associated with metastatic events.40 However, analysis of clinical data from three public databases revealed that increased expression of Vimentin was not associated with overall survival in HNSCC patients (Figs. 1b and d). Here, VIM is linked to cancer.