These results were further corroborated in a novel genetically modified mouse model of HNSCC involving intralingual tamoxifen injection in mouse with a conditional deletion of Tgfβr1 and Pten which resulted in HNSCC tumors that closely resembled clinical HNSCC in histology, molecular profile, and lymph node metastasis. This evidence concerns the gene PTEN and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.