Ferroptosis-Related Long Non-Coding RNA signature predicts the prognosis of Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are head and neck cancers. On the other hand, ferroptosis is a novel iron-dependent and ROS reliant type of cell death observed various disease conditions. Method: We constructed a prognostic multilncRNA signature based on ferroptosis-related differentially expressed lncRNAs in HNSCC. Results: We identified 25 differently expressed lncRNAs associated with prognosis of HNSCC. Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed the high-risk lncRNAs signature associated with poor prognosis of HNSCC. Moreover, the AUC of the lncRNAs signature was 0.782, underscoring their utility in prediction HNSCC prognosis. Indeed, our risk assessment model was superior to traditional clinicopathological features in predicting HNSCC prognosis. GSEA revealed the immune and tumor-related pathways in the low risk group individuals. Moreover, TCGA revealed T cell functions including cytolytic activity, HLA, regulation of inflammationp, co-stimulation, co-inhibition and coordination of type II INF response were significantly different between the low-risk and high-risk groups. Immune checkpoints such as PDCD-1 (PD-1), CTLA4 and LAG3, were also expressed differently between the two risk groups. Conclusion: A novel ferroptosis-related lncRNAs signature impacts on the prognosis of HNSCC.

Automated summary

In this study, a prognostic multilncRNA signature based on ferroptosis-related differentially expressed lncRNAs in HNSCC was constructed and found to impact the prognosis of HNSCC, outperforming traditional clinicopathological features in predicting HNSCC prognosis. The signature was associated with poor prognosis of HNSCC, with a higher AUC value. GSEA identified immune and tumor-related pathways affected by the signature, while TCGA revealed significant differences in T cell functions and immune checkpoint expression between low-risk and high-risk groups.