Notably, TSC showed the strongest prognostic effect in p16-negative patients (median OS: 15 months vs 28 months, p < 0.03 and median PFS: 6 months vs 8 months, p < 0.05) (Fig. 4C and 4D), while for p16-positive OPSCC tumors we did not detect a significant survival benefit for patients with low TSC, although this was probably due to low sample size (data not shown). This evidence concerns the gene CDKN2A and tuberous sclerosis.