Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) like gefitinib, erlotinib and lapatinib (EGFR-TKIs) are administered with chemotherapeutic agents to enhance their sensitivity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) (Tang et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2021). The gene discussed is EGFR; the disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.