While somatic BRCA mutations in breast and ovarian cancers range between 5–20% (47, 50, 51), and pathogenic BRCA2 mutations occur in 2% of pancreatic cancers (52), mutations in OSCC or HNSCC are believed to be rare (25, 26, 28–31, 43, 53). Here, BRCA2 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.