Cancer cell lines are the basic material for various lines of cancer research. Diverse cancer cell lines derived from tissues of various head and neck regions are needed for biological research on head and neck cancer. However, cell lines derived from cancer of the head and neck are not common. Recently, we established and characterized a novel human squamous carcinoma cell line, CNUH-HNSCC-1. From six cases of head and neck cancer, we established one specimen that was maintained for over 50 passages. We characterized the cell line as follows: growth patterns and curve, morphology by use of phase-contrast microscopy, and tumorigenicity by implanting the cell line into nude mice and making morphological comparisons. CNUH-HNSCC-1 cells grew well in vitro even after passage 50. However, the cells failed to form tumors in nude mice. CNUH-HNSCC-1 cells could be used as a control cell line for studying the biology of head and neck cancer.