The use of salivary IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-1RA as HNSCC biomarkers is promising, but as there are many local and systemic diseases that can give rise to elevated salivary IL-1 or decreased IL-1RA levels (e.g., periodontal disease, oral lichen planus, Sögren's syndrome) [94, 160, 161], which increases the likelihood of false positives, more clinical studies are needed before translating this into clinical practice. Here, IL1A is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.