PD-(L)1 immune checkpoint inhibitors provide an attractive combinatorial treatment for increasing survival in metastatic HNSCC with potential synergetic effects with radiotherapy as a radiosensitizer [2–4], However, unfortunately, it was recently reported that the combination of anti-PD-L1 avelumab with chemoradiotherapy did not result in a survival benefit [5]. Here, CD274 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.