Three Autophagy-Related lncRNA are Prognostic Biomarkers for Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Currently, no systematic analysis has been conducted to assess the potential of multiple autophagy-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) to predict the prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). we investigated the prognostic potential of autophagy-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) in HNSCC patients. Methods: Patient information and Autophagy-associated genes were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Human Autophagy data resource. Autophagy-related lncRNAs were determined through Lasso and Cox regression analyses. Then, on the basis of autophagy- related lncRNAs, a risk score and a nomogram were constructed for estimation of prognostic outcomes for HNSCC patients. These models were verified internally using the TCGA and. Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used for gene functional analyses. Results: Three autophagy-related lncRNAs (AC002401.4, AC245041.2 and TMEM44-AS1) that are associated with HNSCC were identified. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that the risk score is an independent prognostic indicator (p ≤ 0.001), with its ability to predict prognosis being higher than that of other clinicopathological indicators (AUC=0.732). Concordance index of the nomogram was 0.712, and AUC values for one-year, three-year and five-year survival rates were 0.730, 0.745 and 0.728, respectively. Internal verifications revealed that this nomogram had a good ability to predict prognosis. Functional analysis showed that the genes were mostly enriched in autophagy and tumor-related cascades. Conclusion: The autophagy-related lncRNAs model can predict the prognosis of patients with HNSCC.Trial registration: Prospective, Observational, Real-world Oral Malignant Tumors Study (POROMS), NCT02395367. Registered 23 March 2015, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02395367