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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1451034
This article is part of the Research Topic Multi-Omics in Head and Neck Cancer: Unveiling Immunological Biomarkers for Therapy View all 3 articles

Disulfidptosis-related Gene SLC3A2: A Novel Prognostic Biomarker in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma and Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Provisionally accepted
Xinyi Zhang Xinyi Zhang *Yiqi Lin Yiqi Lin Liang Shi Liang Shi Aixia Zhai Aixia Zhai *Chao Wu Chao Wu *Qian-Ying Zhu Qian-Ying Zhu *
  • The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), one of the most common malignancies of the head and neck, is characterised by a complex pathogenesis and an unfavourable prognosis.Recently, disulfidoptosis, a novel form of cell death, has been proposed. Several studies in recent years have extensively investigated the function of the disulfidoptosis-related SLC7A11 gene in cancer, but the role of its partner protein, SLC3A2, remains unknown unclear in NPC. In this study, we identified the high expression of SLC3A2 in NPC and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) and analyzed its potential mechanism and correlation with patient prognosis. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between the expression level of SLC3A2 and the extent of immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the high and low SLC3A2 expression groups were primarily involved in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and immune response. Finally, in vitro experiments demonstrated that SLC3A2 stimulates tumor cell proliferation and migration. In conclusion, these results indicated a strong association between SLC3A2 and progression in both NPC and HNSC, suggesting it as a promising biomarker for predicting adverse prognosis in NPC and HNSC patients.

    Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, SLC3A2, biomarker, disulfidptosis

    Received: 18 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Lin, Shi, Zhai, Wu and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xinyi Zhang, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
    Aixia Zhai, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
    Chao Wu, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
    Qian-Ying Zhu, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China

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