NELL2 and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: In this study, the expression level of the genes related to calcium ion binding in patients with HNSCC, such as PTHLH, MMP10, LTBP1, MMP9, NELL2, MMP3, MMP13, MMP12, and MMP1 were significantly altered, indicating that these genes might be crucial to HNSCC development related to calcium ion binding.