Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a subtype of head and neck cancer that arises in the multilayered epithelia of the mouth and lips. Although inactivating mutations in CASP8 are frequently found in human OSCC their role in the disease is unknown. To investigate this, we deleted Casp8 in the oral epithelium of adult mice. Loss of Caspase-8 resulted in defects in the tongue epithelial barrier and triggered a neutrophil-rich immune infiltrate distinct from that observed on epidermal …