The Prognosis and Immunotherapy Prediction of Cuproptosis-Related Genes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: To determine the role of cuproptosis-related genes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and establish a new prognosis model and provide a novel therapeutic target. Methods: We extracted gene expression, mutation information, and clinical data of HNSC patients through TCGA and GTEx. Then use R, GEEA, SPSS to analyze Cuproptosis-related genes, include differential gene expression, prognostic analysis, survival prediction analysis, correlation pathway analysis, and immune correlation analysis. The clinical samples were used for immunohistochemistry and PCR to verify the analytical results. Results: We analyzed 39 normal samples and 469 HNSC to show the co-expression relationship between LncRNA and cuproptosis-related genes. A prediction model was established in predicting the survival rate and the survival period of patients. The expression of LIPT1 gradually increased with clinical grading, which was further verified by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR. LIPT1 is an independent prognostic factor of HNSC, and may be related to the occurrence of HNSC. Immunocyte reduction and immune escape existed in LIPT1 over-expression group. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that cuproptosis-related genes can predict the risk, progression and prognosis of HNSC. LIPT1 is related to the tumor grading of HNSC, and it can be used as an independent prognostic factor and a novel target for HNSC immunotherapy.