CpG sites located in the promoters of ASC/TMS1/PYCARD_CpG8 (− 65 upstream) and MyD88_CpG4 (− 278 upstream) are significantly hypermethylated in the HNSCC when compared with LuSCC (p ≤ 0.0001). Here, PYCARD is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.