The other proteins affecting HNSCC patient survival were CLSPN (p = 0.061), DNA2 (p = 0.0014), POLD1 (p = 0.046) and MCM2 (p = 0.038), whose functions contribute to the stability and error-free function of the replication machinery (Figure 3, bottom). Here, POLD1 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.