There was strong evidence for this variant modulating TP53 gene regulation, at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels as indicated by Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL)and splicing QTLs (sQTL) analyses, with decreased TP53 expression correlating with a reduced risk of overall HNSCC (Fig. 2c) (Supplementary Data 7). Here, TP53 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.