Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is among the most destructive of tumors, leading to considerable morbidity and mortality. Abnormal immune microenvironment is closely associated with tumor progression. This study aimed to construct a robust immune prognostic model for HNSCC. The RNA-seq transcriptome data and clinical information of HNSCC were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The key pathways and transcriptional factors (TFs) that are correlated with significantly altered immune related genes were identified. A robust immune prognostic model was constructed and further validated using a discovery-validation cohort design. An immune prognostic signature-based nomogram model was also developed. We have identified 400 significantly changed immune related genes in HNSCC. In addition, functional analysis of the altered immune related genes revealed many biological functions and pathways that might affect the tumor immune microenvironment. FOXP3, SNAI2, and STAT1 were identified as the hub TFs for regulating immunological changes in HNSCC. Moreover, an immune related gene-based prognostic signature significantly associated with the overall survival (OS) of HNSCC was constructed in the discovery cohort, and successfully validated in the validation cohort. Finally, a nomogram model based on immune prognostic signature was built and exhibited good performance for predicting the OS of HNSCC. In conclusion, the immune prognostic model is robust for predicting the prognosis of HNSCC and may evolve as a promising tool for risk evaluation and therapeutic selection.
Highlights
Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the sixth most frequent human malignancy worldwide
Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that top significantly enriched biological processes included GO:0050900 leukocyte migration, GO:0002697 regulation of immune effector process, GO:0002449 lymphocyte mediated immunity, GO:0002526 acute inflammatory response, and GO:0002460 adaptive immune response based on somatic recombination of immune receptors built from immunoglobulin superfamily domains
Bioinformatic analysis of the altered immune related genes showed that many biological functions and pathways associated with the tumor immune microenvironment were enriched, indicating that immunological changes might affect the progression of Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)
Summary
Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the sixth most frequent human malignancy worldwide. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) accounts for more than 90% of HNC [1, 2]. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy remain the major therapeutic strategies for treating HNSCC. Substantial progress has been achieved in therapy, the prognosis of Immune Prognostic Signature of HNSCC. HNSCC remained little changed in the past few decades [3, 4]. The TNM staging system is widely used for identifying the HNSCC cases at high risk for unfavorable prognosis. The current TNM classification system has problems and weaknesses [5]. It is imperative to develop novel prognostic biomarkers and build prediction models for HNSCC
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