Last decade major advances have been made in the field of mouse model engineering.
Newly developed conditional mouse models have overcome important drawbacks in conventional
mouse models. Conditional mouse models are especially suited for the development
of models of sporadic human carcinomas. These models can control gene (in)activation
in a time and/or tissue-specific manner. Here, we review two important conditional mouse
model systems, based on the Tet off/on and the Cre-Lox system. Furthermore possible applications
of the Cre-Lox system in the development of a mouse model for HNSCC are being
discussed. In the future, conditional mouse models for HNSCC can be used in the identification
of new key genes in HNSCC tumorigenesis, and would furthermore serve as an indispensable
tool for designing new treatment-modalities.