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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Genetics
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1478895

A Pyroptosis-Related lncRNA Risk Model for the Prediction of Prognosis and Immunotherapy Response in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Provisionally accepted
Ren J. yuan Ren J. yuan 1Bingrui Yan Bingrui Yan 1*Xurui Wang Xurui Wang 2*Yifei Wang Yifei Wang 3*Qiuying Li Qiuying Li 1*Yanan Sun Yanan Sun 1*
  • 1 Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
  • 2 Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Jilin Cancer Hospital, Chang Chun, 130012, China, Changchun, China
  • 3 Department of Pathology, Jilin Cancer Hospital, Chang Chun, 130012, China, Changchun, China

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

    Recent research has highlighted pyroptosis as a key factor in cancer progression. This study aims to explore the association between pyroptosis-related signatures and overall survival (OS) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) and develop a pyroptosis-related long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) risk model to predict prognosis and response to immunotherapy in HNSC.We extracted expression data for 18 pyroptosis-related genes and identified lncRNA probes specific to HNSC by using datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Consensus clustering was performed to categorize HNSC patients into distinct subtypes. A six-lncRNA risk score model was constructed through univariate and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analyses. We evaluated the predictive ability of the lncRNA model for patients' survival and immunotherapy response. Gene expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Reverse Transcription Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR).Our analysis revealed two distinct pyroptosis-related subtypes in HNSC patients, Cluster A and Cluster B. Notably, patients in Cluster B exhibited significantly poorer overall survival compared to those in Cluster A. Through differential expression analysis, we identified six lncRNAs (AC002331.1, CTA-384D8.35, RP11-291B21.2, AC006262.5, RP1-27K12.2, and RP11-54H7.4) that were differentially expressed between these clusters. A 6-lncRNA risk score model was developed, which successfully stratified patients into high-and low-risk groups with distinct overall survival outcomes. Validation using RT-qPCR confirmed the differential expression of these six lncRNAs in HNSC tumor tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues,we found that the expression of CTA-384D8.35 was significantly increased in the tumor group (t=-6.203, P<0.001). Furthermore, the 6-lncRNA risk score model demonstrated a significant association with patient response to immunotherapy, with the low-risk group exhibiting a higher objective response rate to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy and longer survival compared to the high-risk group.Our study underscores the role of pyroptosis signatures in HNSC prognosis and identifies two distinct pyroptosis subtypes with differing survival outcomes. The six-lncRNA risk score model offers a valuable tool

    Keywords: hNSC, pyroptosis, lncRNA risk score model, overall survival, Immunotherapy response

    Received: 11 Aug 2024; Accepted: 24 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 yuan, Yan, Wang, Wang, Li and Sun. 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:
    Bingrui Yan, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
    Xurui Wang, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Jilin Cancer Hospital, Chang Chun, 130012, China, Changchun, China
    Yifei Wang, Department of Pathology, Jilin Cancer Hospital, Chang Chun, 130012, China, Changchun, China
    Qiuying Li, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
    Yanan Sun, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.