The present disclosure provides methods of diagnosing and staging squamous cell carcinomas, for instance head and neck (HNSCC), by detecting chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor-interacting protein 2 (CTIP2) expression. For example, it is demonstrated herein that expression of CTIP2 is increased in SCC relative to a corresponding normal sample. Also included are kits for detecting SCC, as well as methods for identifying CTIP2 inhibitors.