HOXB7 and cancer: HOXA7, HOXA10, HOXB7, HOXC6, HOXC10, HOXD10, HOXD11 showed consistent upregulation in the potentially malignant oral lesions through their progression to oral cancer (Figs. 2a–b and 3a–b), which indicated the posterior prevalence of the HOX genes during cancer progression.