Many studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between EMT progression and the expression of immune checkpoints, especially PD-L1, in several solid tumors including HNSCC [28, 32] Ock and coworkers [27] reported that HNSCC patients showing simultaneously increased PD-L1 expression and activation of the EMT program (PD-L1+/EMT+) had a worse prognosis than PD-L1 overexpressing but EMT-negative patients (PD-L1+/EMT-), thus suggesting a key role of this program in immunotherapy resistance. Here, CD274 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.