Meanwhile, in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the expression levels of PGK1 and SLC2A1 were upregulated and were significantly associated with the patients’ poorer overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) (Kunkel et al., 2003; Miller et al., 2024; Swartz et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2023). The gene discussed is SLC2A1; the disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.