Comprehensive Analysis of Myeloid Signature Genes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma to Predict the Prognosis and Immune Infiltration

Abstract

Myeloid cells are a major heterogeneous cell population in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Imbalance of myeloid response remains a major obstacle to a favorable prognosis and successful immune therapy. Therefore, we aimed to construct a risk model to evaluate the myeloid contexture, which may facilitate the prediction of prognosis and immune infiltration in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In our study, six myeloid signature genes (including CCL13, CCR7, CD276, IL1B, LYVE1 and VEGFC) analyzed from 52 differentially expressed myeloid signature genes were finally pooled to establish a prognostic risk model, termed as myeloid gene score (MGS) in a training cohort and validated in a test cohort and an independent external cohort. Furthermore, based on the MGS subgroups, we were able to effectively identify patients with a poor prognosis, aggressive clinical parameters, immune cell infiltration status and immunotherapy response. Thus, MGS may serve as an effective prognostic signature and predictive indicator for immunotherapy response in patients with HNSCC.

A novel myeloid cell marker genes related signature can indicate immune infiltration and predict prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: Integrated analysis of bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing

“…Then a novel prognostic gene signature was developed and validated by the TCGA and ICGC dataset. Similar to our results, another myeloid cell marker gene related gene signature was proved to be prognostic and predictive of immunotherapy response for patients with HNSCC ( Liu et al, 2021 ). Further, the risk score was proved to be correlated with tumor grade and stage.…”

“…Through high-throughput sequencing technologies, we are now able to perform analysis to comprehensively catalog myeloid cells related genes in cancers. Liu et al developed a myeloid cells related gene signature containing 5 genes, which was valuable in evaluating the prognosis and immunity for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma ( Liu et al, 2021 ). However, their myeloid signature genes were generated from published literature of various tumors.…”

Tumor-Associated Macrophages Promote Metastasis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma via CCL13 Regulated by Stress Granule

“…The up-regulation of CCL13 (a member of the CCL chemokine family) was also associated with the development of rheumatoid arthritis and [ 56 ] and cancer progression [ 57 ]. A prognostic risk model has identified CCL13 as a risk factor for poor prognosis of HNSCC patients [ 58 ]. In our study, we confirmed CCL13 promoted OSCC metastasis in vitro and in vivo.…”

Construction of an m6A‐related lncRNA pair prognostic signature and prediction of the immune landscape in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

“…Compared with other clinical attributes (stage, grade, sex, and age), the risk score for forecasting 1‐, 3‐, and 5‐year survival status of HNSCC had higher AUC values, which was also higher than the previous models. 41 , 42 , 43 In addition, a higher risk score was considerably linked to older age, lymph node metastasis, and advanced stages, indicating that the risk score was more effective to stratify a patient's survival status. An ideal cut‐off point for model fitting was obtained using the Youden index rather than differentiating the risk merely premised on the median value.…”